Hindi
UTV lines up four films for 2010 first quarter
MUMBAI: Backed by the success of three genre-defining blockbusters of 2009 in Kaminey, Wake Up Sid and Dev.D, UTV Motion Pictures has announced an aggressive line up of four films for the last quarter of the fiscal (January to March 2010).
Take a look:
Chance Pe Dance, directed by Ken Ghosh starring Shahid Kapoor and Genelia D‘souza. The film will have a worldwide release on 15 January.
India‘s official entry to the Oscars this year, Harishchandrachi
Factory will hit the screens on 22 January. This Marathi film directed by Paresh Mokashi is a co-production of UTV with Paprika Media and Mayasabha.
Peter Gaya Kaam Se, directed by John Owen stars Rajeev Khandelwal and Lekha Washington. The film is scheduled for a March 2010 release.
Finally there is Paan Singh Tomar directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia. The film stars Irrfan Khan and Mahie Gill. It will also be released in March 2010.
Says UTV Motion Pictures CEO Siddharth Roy Kapur, “While 2009 has been a low year for the film industry in general, we released some interesting films which etched themselves in the minds of the audience.
“Dev.D, Kaminey and Wake Up Sid created new benchmarks for what can now be perceived as commercial cinema. Our slate for 2010 promises to be a very entertaining mix and we are very excited to be bringing audiences such a wide array of interesting cinema.”
The New Year will also have UTV releasing films like Prakash Jha‘s Raajneeti, Sanjay Leela Bhansali‘s Guzarish, Anees Bazmee‘s Thank You, Rajkumar Gupta‘s No One Killed Jessica, Vishal Bhardwaj‘s Ek Bataa Saat, Aamir Khan Productions‘ Delhi Belly and Peepli Live.
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.
