Hindi
Filmfare to present 2500th ‘Black Lady’ in 2012
NEW DELHI: The 2500th award will be given away at the 2012 annual Filmfare awards ceremony, which is the first private sector film award instituted in the country in the fifties.
Terming the 57th Idea Filmfare Awards 2011 for this reason, Worldwide Media CEO Tarun Rai said Filmfare was not fazed by the large number of other awards since ‘the Black Lady has had a head-start of fifty years‘.
The awards are selected by a two-way process: the readers send in their votes, and the jury then shortlists the award-winners from the films nominated on the basis of the votes received. However, this does not apply to the Critics Awards which are picked by a jury.
He said the next ceremony would be on 29 January 2012 at Film City in Mumbai, thus giving readers adequate time to react over the releases of 2011.
Aditya Birla Group chief corporate affairs officer Rajat Mukarji said that Idea Cellular would be sponsoring the awards for the fourth time in a row.
Imran Khan, who presented the show along with Ranbir Kapoor in the last award ceremony, said that they ensured that no film personality was hurt or offended by their presentation. He admitted that taking on the show after Shah Rukh Khan and Saif Ali Khan had done it for two years prior to their coming in had made it a daunting task. It was particularly ‘scary‘ for him the first time since it was just six months after his debut. Imran is in Delhi to learn Haryanvi and do rehearsals for a new film he will be doing shortly. Speaking for himself, he said audience appreciation mattered more to him than awards.
Mukarji added, “This year of Idea Filmfare Awards is special as it also celebrates the centenary year of Indian cinema and coincides with Idea crossing the 100 million subscriber mark. With Idea‘s 3G services, our over 100 million subscribers will now get an opportunity to experience the best mobile experience across various platforms. Idea will also enable its subscribers to access movie content and results of the Idea Filmfare Awards on their mobile phones.”
Coincidentally, the Indian film industry is entering its 100th year in 2012. Filmfare was founded in 1952.
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.
