Hindi
Ashvin Kumar‘s ‘The Forest’ set to release on 4 May
MUMBAI: Director Ashvin Kumar’s mainstream ecologic thriller The Forest is set to release on 4 May.
The Forest, a thriller with an ecological message, is a chilling tale of a man-eating leopard set in the jungles of North India.
The Forest is the third release under PVR Cinema’s Director’s Rare series. Its star cast includes the likes of Javed Jafferi, Nandana Sen, Ankur Vikal and Salim Ali Zaidi.
Incidentally, Ashwin is the youngest Indian writer-director with an Academy Award Oscar nomination for Little Terrorist and National Award winning director for Inshallah Football.
With his Oscar nomination, the director joins the select list of Indians at the Oscars like Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Ashutosh Gowarikar, Shekhar Kapur, Resul Pookutty, Bhanu Athaiya and AR Rahman. He is the only Indian to ever be nominated into the short film category.
The film had early premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose in February 2009 and had its market premiere at Cannes Market ‘09. It was also a part of the official competition of Montreal International Film Festival, Canada and Sitges International Film Festival, Spain.
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.
