Hindi
Balaji to expand screens showing The Dirty Picture
MUMBAI: Production house Balaji Motion Pictures will expand the number of screens showing The Dirty Picture to 100 in a bid to penetrate deeper.
Said Balaji Motion Pictures, Distribution and Acquisition head Girish Johar, “The movie is doing well. We have almost thrashed a deal to increase the number of screens the film is showing from around 40 to 100 from this Friday.”
To a question as to why was the home video rights given at a time when the film was still going strong, Johar quipped, “ Normally, the home video rights are given away after the fourth week and our film is already six weeks old. We decided to bring out the film on home video for we knew that people will lap it up and in the process, we would be able to monetise on that front too.”
The Dirty Picture, which released worldwide on 2 December in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu, has Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi and Tusshar Kapoor among others.
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.
