Hindi
Dark Knight Rises generates Rs 250 mn in opening weekend
MUMBAI: The Dark Knight Rises, the latest Batman movie from the Warner Bros. Entertainment, which stars Christian Bale as Batman, has collected Rs 250 million in its opening weekend in India.
The first weekend collections are more than what Dar Media had paid to secure the domestic distribution rights of the film. The distributor has paid almost Rs 180 million for the all-India theatrical distribution rights; the only other Hollywood film to have been sold to a single theatrical distributor was Spider-Man 3, which was released in 2007. Incidentally, the film‘s Indian distribution rights were sold by Sony Pictures Entertainment to Percept Picture for around Rs 150 million.
The first of the Batman series, Batman Begins, was released in 2005 across 70 screens (57 prints) and generated around Rs 13.6 million in the first three days from the Indian box-office, while the sequel, The Dark Knight, which released in 2008 across 250 screens (210 prints) earned around Rs 38 million in the opening weekend, according to Warner Bros.
The record for being the highest Hollywood grosser in India in the opening weekend is held by The Amazing Spider-Man released on 29 June. The film generated Rs 340 million for Sony Pictures Entertainment.
However, The Dark Knight Rises was released with around 650 prints across 700 screens, while The Amazing Spider-Man released across 1,500 screens.
“The Christoper Nolan film opened very well. It ran to almost houseful capacity on Friday and during the weekend too, the frenzy continued. But it would have been another picture, had the film been released in 3D, since the ticket prices are higher for 3D films,” said Cinemax DGM Girish Wankhede.
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.
