Hindi
Gunday continues its strong run at the box-office
MUMBAI: Last week saw two films of different genres release. Darr @ The Mall a direct lift of a Hollywood flick from 1989 and Highway, a road movie. While, Darr @ The Mall is a total reject, Highway, also not creating a fad, is a little better. In which case, last week’s solo release, Gunday has reaped the benefit.
Darr @ The Mall has fared poorly with its day to day collections barely touching a crore mark. The film collected Rs 3.2 crore for its opening weekend.
Highway, banking on Sajid Nadiadwala’s banner and director Imtiaz Ali’s past record, fared a shade better. The film collected Rs 12.7 crore over its opening weekend with the Sunday collections showing a decent growth. The film’s 75 per cent business came from Delhi-NCR-Punjab and Mumbai. But, that is not enough to slot the film as an earner with as much as Rs 30 crore incurred for the release of the film.
Gunday proves once again that films on male bonding, friendships don’t usually fail. With an excellent weekend of Rs 43.93 crore, the film ended its first week run with a healthy Rs 63.1 crore adding another Rs 8.15 crore for the second weekend taking its ten day total to Rs 71.24 crore. Both, Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor have consolidated their positions in the industry.
Hasee Toh Phasee has had a decent second week, its average merits notwithstanding. The credit goes to Parineeti Chopra whose performance is being appreciated by all. The film has added Rs 7.7 crore in its second week, taking its two week total to Rs 33.05 crore.
Jai Ho has not managed to do much business at the end of it fourth week with collections of Rs 45 lakh and a four week total of Rs 105.35 crore. It has not lived up to its expectations as other Salman Khan blockbusters in recent history.
Note: An Rs 100 crore grosser is not necessarily a hit because the take home amount is less than 50 per cent of that amount with over half going towards the theatre’s share and a part of it to the distribution expenses.
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.
