Hindi
Gangs of Wasseypur kicks off IFFLA
NEW DELHI: Anurag Kashyap‘s ‘Gang of Wasseypur‘ was the opening film at the 11th Annual Indian Film festival of Los Angeles (IFFLA) at the Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood.
"Gangs of Wasseypur" had also been screened in Cannes last year in the ‘Directors Fortnight‘ section.
The festival has included a sneak preview of Mira Nair‘s new political thriller ‘The Reluctant Fundamentalist‘ (with an international cast running from Kiefer Sutherland to Shabana Azmi) and the festival will close with Deepa Mehta‘s cinematic translation of Salman‘s Rushdie‘s novel ‘Midnight‘s Children‘ starring Seema Biswas, Shabana Azmi, and Anupam Kher.
The festivalwill also pay a tribute to ‘King of Romance‘ director Yash Chopra that includes his last venture ‘Jab Tak hai Jaan‘ along with other hits like ‘Chandni‘, ‘Silsila‘, and ‘Kabhi Kabhie‘.
Other films at the festival include ‘Filmistaan‘ – debut feature by Nitin Kakkar – and ‘Eega‘ a Telugu language resurrection drama which is loosely based on the film ‘Makhii‘.
A full length documentary, ‘Celluloid Man‘ on the living legend P K Nair who brought film archiving to India as the founder of the National Film Archive of India will also be screened at the IFFLA this year.
Other short films include ‘Tatpaschat‘, ‘Dosa Hunt‘, ‘Here and away‘, ‘Homecoming‘, ‘The queen of my dreams‘, ‘Rags to Pads‘, ‘Recurrence‘, Vasan Bala‘s ‘Peddlers‘, Hansal Mehta‘s ‘Shahid‘, and Anand Gandhi‘s ‘Ship of Theseus‘.
There are two discussion sessions. The first is ‘Laughing At Ourselves- A Conversation with Actors and Creatives‘ with Kunal Nayyar (actor, Big Bang Theory), Hannah Simone (actor, New Girl), Sarayu Rao (actor, Monday Mornings), Luvh Rakhe (writer, New Girl), and Sunil Nayar (executive producer, Revenge), and moderated by Parvesh Cheena (actor, Outsourced).
The second panel is on "Today‘s Pioneer Voices Changing the Landscape of Indian Cinema" moderated by Lisa Tsering (The Hollywood Reporter), and featuring Vasan Bala, Anand Gandhi, Hansal Mehta and Nitin Kakkar.
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.
