Hindi
Akshay Kumar & Ashvini Yardi to release Fugly on 16 May 2014
NEW DELHI: After the success of their first venture OMG: Oh My God!, actor Akshay Kumar and Ashvini Yardi are all set to release Fugly, a coming-of-age drama set in the by lanes of Delhi.
The film’s release date has just been announced as 16 May 2014.
Produced by the Grazing Goat Pictures and directed by Kabir Sadanand, Fugly is shot extensively in Delhi and the breathtaking locations of Leh. It is the story of four friends – Dev, Devi, Gaurav and Aditya and how this carefree bunch, at the threshold of their lives, get caught in a Fugly incident, which sucks them slowly into the big bad world of corruption, politics and the real society in the capital.
The central characters are played by an ensemble of some of the freshest faces to emerge from India: Anil Kapoor’s nephew Mohit Marwah, Olympic medalist Boxer Vijender Singh, grand niece of Sayed Jaffery Kiara Advani and Slumdog Millionaire actor Arti Lamba will make their Bollywood debuts in the film. The film also sees the fondly remembered Anjali, from the 1998 blockbuster, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Sana Saeed, in a special song and Jimmy Shergill who returns to the big screen after Bullet Raja.
With Fugly, Akshay and Ashvini have followed up the huge success of their first film venture, OMG: Oh My God, and their regional successes, the critically acclaimed Marathi film 72 Miles Ek Pravas, and the Punjabi comic-caper ‘Bhaji in Problem’.
Spearheading investment into quality, subject-driven film-making, Grazing Goat Pictures is taking Hindi and regional cinema to new heights with a range of innovative and fresh projects.
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.
