Hindi
Tips open to floating new JV for scaling up movie biz
MUMBAI: Tips Industries is open to the idea of floating a new joint venture company with an investor as partner for scaling up its movie production business.
Tips is also exploring opportunities to enter into joint venture arrangements with different companies on a project basis. The investment will be done by the partner while Tips will focus on its expertise in filmmaking.
“We are not looking at diluting stake to raise money and scale up. The best route is to do joint ventures on a project basis where we get funding from our partners. The other option is to open a new joint venture company and raise money from the partner to scale up the movie production business,” Tips Kumar chairman and managing director Kumar S Taurani tells Indiantelevision.com.
Tips‘ focus will be to make two good movies a year. “We will scale up only if the other routes open up,” adds Taurani.
Prince, Tips‘ latest release, has clocked Rs 200 million gross in the opening weekend. “The movie is getting a good response at the box-office. We plan to release Hari Om, an international movie, this fiscal. We will do one-to-two movies more during the year if we get to distribute them,” avers Taurani.
Tips is likely to end FY‘10 on a revenue of Rs 800-900 million with Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani accounting for Rs 600 million.
The satellite telecast rights of Ajab Prem Ki Gajab Kahani have been syndicated to Colors and Imagine TV. “We are in talks with other broadcasters for syndicating the rights,” says Taurani.
On the music front, Tips will release the repertoire of titles that had stayed idle with it ever since it had acquired music companies like Weston, Time, Oriental and Vatsa years back.
“The bottom line is stabilised because of our music revenues. Digital is far to take off in India. But we get good revenues from radio, public performance and mobile,” says Taurani.
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.
