Hindi
‘Finding Fanny’ and ‘Haider’ to be screened at BIFF
MUMBAI: Deepika Padukone starrer Finding Fanny and Shahid Kapoor’s Haider have been selected to be screened at the forthcoming Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) in South Korea.
The two films, along with Margarita, With A Straw, Labour Of Love, Goli Soda and Zahir from the country, will be showcased as part of the ‘A Window on Asian Cinema’ category at the fest. The festival is scheduled to be held from 2-11 October 2014.
The director of Finding Fanny, Homi Adajania is ecstatic that his movie is among the projects chosen for the prestigious festival.
“Yeehaa! @FindingFanny officially invited to the BUSAN International Film Festival! @arjunk26 @deepikapadukone @ankurtewari @Anaita_Adajania,” he tweeted.
Finding Fanny is an off the wall, comical story about five people who venture out to find Stefanie Fernandes (Fanny). The movie stars Deepika Padukone, Arjun Kapoor, Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia and Pankaj Kapur. The film has been produced by Maddock Films and is being presented by Fox Star Studios. Being hailed as the movie to watch out for, Finding Fanny is set to release on September 12.
Meanwhile, Haider too is among the much-awaited Bollywood films this year. With Shahid Kapoor in the lead role, this Vishal Bhardwaj directorial is the Indian adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Hamlet. The movie also stars Shraddha Kapoor, Tabu and Kay Kay Menon. The movie is produced by VB Pictures and distributed by UTV Motion Pictures. It will release on 2 October.
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.
