Hindi
Reliance MediaWorks expands to Japan via Imagica
MUMBAI: Reliance MediaWorks has expanded its post production business, signing a pact with Japan’s largest firm in this segment, Imagica Corp.
As part of the alliance, the companies would provide facilities like film restoration, image processing and enhancement and HD conversion services to Japanese broadcasters and studios.
Imagica Corp offers a range of services such as film processing and printing, inter-media transfer, digital and optical composite, VFX, CGI, editing and sound services, DVD authoring and duplication and image restoration.
Says Reliance MediaWorks CEO Anil Arjun, “By combining Imagica’s local leadership, know-how and expertise with our experience and versatile technology we are geared to provide next generation services to the Japanese film makers and broadcasters. Also, Japanese movies have always been a true embodiment of their rich imperial culture and by offering restoration services in Japan we are honored to have the opportunity to revive some of these classic movies.”
The Japanese outfit would work closely with Reliance MediaWork’s LA-based subsidiary Lowry Digital, Hollywood’s leading film restoration facility that has handled the digital restoration of picture elements for Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 Academy Award winning masterpiece Rashomon that first brought Japanese cinema to prominence in the West.
Lowry Digital has handled projects for leading studios like Walt Disney, Paramount Pictures, MGM and 20th Century Fox and entertainment leaders like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg and James Cameron and has handled the restoration of footage sent back to Earth from Apollo 11, for NASA.
Reliance MediaWorks currently has a dominant and comprehensive presence in film services like motion picture processing and DI; visual effects; film restoration and image enhancement; 2D to 3D conversion; digital mastering: studios and equipment rentals.
Hindi
Jio Studios, Sanjay Dutt team up to revive Khal Nayak
Rights acquired for new version, format under wraps as remake plans take shape.
MUMBAI: The villain is back and this time, he’s rewriting his own script. Jio Studios has partnered with Three Dimension Motion Pictures and Aspect Entertainment to revive the 1993 cult classic Khal Nayak, marking a fresh chapter for one of Bollywood’s most iconic anti-hero stories. The original film, directed by Subhash Ghai under Mukta Arts, was a commercial and cultural milestone, with Sanjay Dutt’s portrayal of Ballu becoming one of Hindi cinema’s most memorable performances.
Dutt, along with Aksha Kamboj, has now acquired the rights from the original creators, bringing on board Jio Studios and its President Jyoti Deshpande to steer the project creatively.
While the exact format whether remake, sequel, prequel, or a completely new narrative remains undisclosed, the collaboration aims to reinterpret the story for contemporary audiences while retaining the essence that made the original a defining film of the 1990s.
The move taps into a broader industry trend of reviving legacy intellectual property, particularly characters with strong recall value. “Khal Nayak” was notable for pushing mainstream Hindi cinema into morally grey territory at a time when heroes were largely one-dimensional, making Ballu’s character a standout.
The project also marks the film production debut of Aspect Entertainment, signalling a push towards more technology-led storytelling frameworks. Meanwhile, Jio Studios continues to expand its slate, having built a library of over 200 films and series, with more than 60 titles collectively winning 500-plus awards.
For Dutt, the revival is as much personal as it is strategic, a return to a role that reshaped his career. For the industry, it is another sign that nostalgia, when paired with scale, remains a powerful box-office proposition.
Because in Bollywood, some villains never fade, they just wait for the perfect comeback.
