Hindi
Studio18 restructures senior team
MUMBAI: Viacom18‘s motion pictures division Studio18 has restructured its senior management team.
Hemant Bhardwaj, who was head of international operations, will now take over as senior vice president distribution, marketing and syndication for India. The position was occupied by Priti Shahani earlier.
Bhardwaj, who joined Studio18 in October 2007, will be based in Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Tanuj Garg, who earlier headed the UK and Europe business while taking care of international marketing and syndication revenues, will take charge of the company‘s international operations from London.
Confirming the development to Indiantelevision.com, Indian Film Company CEO Sandeep Bhargava said, “Bhardwaj has been part of our team for the last three years and he will be able to oversee the marketing, distribution and syndication verticals.”
Garg had joined Studio18 in November 2006.
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.
