Hindi
Zee Talkies’ Natarang to hit screens on 1st January
MUMBAI: Zee Talkies‘ Natarang starring Atul Kulkarni and Sonalee is scheduled to release all over on 1 January.
Creatively stimulating, entertainingly enlightening and beautifully arresting, Natarang is a cinematic canvas with just the right strokes of acting talents, story, music, cinematography and but of course path-breaking direction.
Set up in Maharashtra‘s rustic hinterlands, the film bears the dust of its rural life, and treats you to some beautiful film-making there within.
Directed by Ravi Jadhav, the film compels you to reflect back on the simplest desires of life. As Guna Kagalkar, the lead character of the film, played by Atul Kulkarni inspires you to do just that. The passion, obsession, zeal and undying desire to set up a tamasha theatre company, leaves you completely spellbound.
Based on a story by the same name by veteran Marathi author Anand Yadav, it has cinematography by Mahesh Limaye, screenplay to Ravi Jadhav and dialogues and lyrics to Guru Thakur. The film has music by duo Ajay-Atul.
Right from the time Natarang went on floors, it has been enveloped by curiosity from film critics and cinema lovers alike. It has been showered with applauds from not just Indian but also international film critics.
It‘s screening and subsequent honours at the 11th international MAMI film festival, the 8th Asian Film Festival etc is a definite proof of its cinematic prowess.
In fact in the MAMI film festival, it became the only Indian film to be selected in the 14 ‘Above the cut‘ category films for its outstanding cinematic merit.
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.
