Hindi
Shemaroo brings lives of 3 great leaders on home video
MUMBAI: With Republic Day round the corner, Shemaroo Entertainment has brought together three great Leaders – Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Sardar Patel – in a two-DVD pack titled, Great Leaders on the Path of Non-Violence.
The pack consists of a documentary on the lives of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela and the National Award winning feature film Sardar, starring Paresh Rawal.
The documentary of Mahatma Gandhi explores his struggle against the mighty British Empire and its colonies of South Africa and India. It shows various historic events like – the Dandi March and Non-Cooperative Movement that he initiated.
The documentary of Nelson Mandela shows his struggles, his triumphs and the adversity which ultimately drove him to greatness as an African leader.
The biographical epic on Sardar Patel concentrates largely on the last five years of Sardar‘s life, from 1945 to 1950 when he strode on the national scene, wresting India‘s Independence and integrating the nation.
The film deals with all the myriad and debilitating problems that India faced in its pre and immediate post Independence period, which turned out to be Sardar Patel‘s finest hour.
Avers, Shemaroo Entertainment Director Hiren Gada, “Through this two-DVD pack, Shemaroo has attempted to combine education and entertainment. We would like to give today‘s youth and school children an opportunity to understand the principals and philosophies of such great leaders whose accomplishments influenced, and will influence generations to come.”
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.
