Hindi
Box Office: ‘Neerja’ flies with Rs 21 crore in opening weekend
MUMBAI: Neerja started slow on its opening Friday but the film’s appreciation helped it catch momentum on the very first day during the later shows. Akin to Airlift, despite being a dry film, it managed to invoke patriotic and humane sentiments among viewers.
The film grew as the day progressed and grew by about 80 per cent on day two. And more than double its Friday figures on Sunday. That is a sort of miracle for a heroine oriented film, especially since the heroine in this case, Sonam Kapoor, enjoys limited draw. So, though almost 30 years old incident, people have identified with the story as they did with Airlift. The film has ended its first weekend with a total of Rs 21.2 crore.
Loveshuda is poor, registering a little over Rs 2 crore for the weekend.
The other two films, Instant Ishq and Ishq Forever, are very poor.
Sanam Re has managed to rake in Rs 24.6 crore in its first week, which does not seem enough for the distributor to recover, who needs much more to recoup.
Fitoor collects Rs 17.15 crore for its first week, which is way short of recovery.
Ghayal Once Again is beyond salvaging point. The film adds a meagre Rs 1.85 crore in its second week to take its two week total to Rs 34.95 crore.
Sanam Teri Kasam collects Rs 45 lakh in its second week to take its two week tally to Rs 7.7 crore.
Saala Khadoos collects Rs 30 lakh in its third week taking its three week total to Rs 10.4 crore.
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.
