Hindi
Censors clear Shanghai with U/A certificate
MUMBAI: The Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared Dibakar Banerjee‘s upcoming film Shanghai with a U/A certificate. However, the Board has effected one major cut: a scene where a local politician is shown being abused.
Earlier this week, the Mumbai unit of the Congress party had called for a ban on the song Bharat Mata Ki Jai saying that it hurts patriotic sentiments and degrades India. In a letter addressed to union Minister for Information & Broadcasting Ambika Soni, Mumbai Congress vice-president Charan Singh Sapra has contended that the content of the entire song is an insult to all countrymen who respect India as their motherland.
The song in mention contains controversial words like Sarkari Hathiyaar, Dhandha, Chanda, Dengue, Malaria, Gobar (cowdung), that Sapra alleged are deliberately used to defame the country.
Sapra had sought an immediate and total ban on the song from being broadcast/telecast in any manner, deleting it from the movie and to fix accountability and initiate action against the concerned censor board officials who cleared the offensive number.
In another development, the Delhi High Court dismissed a plea seeking stay on the release of the film by Tejinder Pal Singh Bagga, president of Bhagat Singh Kranti Sena who, through a PIL, had sought an interim stay on release of ‘Shanghai‘ until its song ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai‘ was deleted.
A division bench of Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rajiv Shakdher remarked, “We do not find anything objectionable in the said song. In a democracy, every person has a right to voice his views and opinions… the same right to speech and expression cannot be curtailed except under some circumstances.”
“The author of the song has merely sought to portray the existing state of affairs in India, once considered a golden bird… is now infested with diseases like dengue and malaria,” the bench observed.
Based on the novel by Vassilis Vassilikos, Shanghai is a political thriller directed by D. Banerjee and stars Emraan Hashmi and Abhay Deol. The film is slated for release on 8 June.
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.
