Hindi
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz… Aimless
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is another film glorifying the local criminal of the Hindi belt. That they don’t work is a fact, though it fails to deter more such makers. What is worse, the makers don’t care about the time period when the film was based. It jumps at will from 1970s when Kishore Kumar songs ruled the roost on the radio to mobile phone era.
The babumoshai, a Bengali term of respect while addressing someone, will always remain a mystery in the title of the film which is based in UP!
The character of Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a sharpshooter, a supari killer, somewhere in UP working for a woman politician, played by Divya Dutta, spewing paan spit and foul words as her trademark. She assigns him to eliminate her detractors as and when required. Nawazuddin kills people at will, roams around freely in town and walks off to his hidden, far away abode. It seems, he makes it a point to kill his targets when witnesses are around.
While Divya assigns killings to Nawazuddin, her two henchmen envy him. So, there are perpetual undercurrents of backstabbing and betrayals.
Made to change sides, now Nawazuddin is engaged by another politician, a rival to Divya. Meanwhile, Nawazuddin has met and fallen in love with the character of Bidita Das, who mends footwear but is never shy of using her instruments of trade on men who act funny. Bidita and Nawazuddin hit it off and a sex affair starts (no, it is not a love affair).
You realize that Nawazuddin is a legend in his field when he comes across his fan claiming to be his disciple, Jatin Goswami, who has turned into a shooter inspired by the stories of Nawazuddin’s exploits. Now, there are multiple angles. You don’t know who are the friends and who are the enemies. Killings take place as a sport. Everybody is betraying the other at whim.
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a hackneyed film with no head or tail. It does not even have a single theme. Somebody points a gun, at times pulls a trigger and does not at other times! It tries to vend some ‘steamy’ kissing scenes and sex, as if they were just invented, to poor effect. Also, the film may be about sharpshooters but the bullets they spray rarely ever hit the target!
The film lacks on scripting, has poor direction and is a let down on all counts. Nawazuddin has an ill-defined role and he only seems to be in a hurry to end his newfound success, with this film coming soon after Munna Michael, where he did a role not meant for him. Bidita Das can’t act. Divya Dutta and the rest are ineffective.
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is a sham of a movie.
Producers: Kiran Shyam Shroff, Ashmith Kunder, Kushan Nandy.
Director: Kushan Nandy.
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Bidita Das, Divya Dutta, Jatin Goswami, Murli Sharma and Anil George.
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.
