Hindi
Choreographer Pony Verma seeks assistant via crowd sourcing
MUMBAI: All these days we heard filmmakers resorting to crowd sourcing to fund their films. What is new is that choreographer Pony Verma has resorted to crowd sourcing in association with Talenthouse to find herself an assistant.
“My partnership with Talenthouse will help bridge the gap between Indian terrains with its capacity to reach out to the masses through the internet and crowd sourcing. It is a brilliant initiative that will help aspiring performers to showcase their creativity and get the much needed exposure and recognition,” Verma said in a statement.
Globally, many mega events are done through crowd sourcing. The well known hip-hop band, The Black Eyed Peas, had interestingly used crowd sourcing to excite and hook the audience to their performance at Oprah`s 24th season kickoff party in Chicago last year,” she added.
Crowd sourcing has become a lucrative way of searching for talent, said Talenthouse India CEO Arun Mehra. “Bollywood is currently using crowd sourcing to find new talent and through this creative invite, we want to reach out to dance choreographers and give them an opportunity to be a part of the ever growing film industry thus bringing them one step closer to fulfilling their Bollywood dream, he observed.
The selected winner will get to work at Verma‘s dance academy ISPA as head-trainer and a chance to assist her in her future Bollywood projects.
While the online submission deadline is 3 May, the winner will be announced on 31May.
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.
