Hindi
Indian director Ramana’s short film ‘Living Idle’ wins international acclaim
MUMBAI: Prolific filmmaker Ramana’s short film ‘Living Idle’ has received accolades by winning 26 international awards at various Film Festivals across the globe. Five Continents International Film Festival (FICOCC) is the latest win, in May 2017.
The film revolves around the basic idea of unconditional love and how a woman loves her husband and family and goes to any extent to fulfilher duty of love without any expectations or biases towards her oppressors. It runs for duration of seven minutes.
Ramana is, at present, the Art Director at Assemblage – a leading feature film focused CGI production animation studio based out of Mumbai. At Assemblage, Ramana closely works with its Hollywood clients in areas related to visual development, visual scripting and design.
Throughout his career, he has worked on many great films like Puss in Boots, Madagascar, Elizabeth 2 & 3, and Prince of Persia, etc. Ramana has been working in the movie business for over 20 years and has been a part of renowned studios including the likes of DreamWorks and mentored by great film-makers such as Shekhar Kapur. He has always been an inspiration the artists in the Indian animation and creative industry.
Ramana is the latest addition to the award-winning team at Assemblage Entertainment, that consists of technocrats, artists and production managers with several years of experience in creating world-class animation productions in collaboration with major Hollywood studios and independent production companies globally.
On his film receivingworldwide appreciation, Ramana said, “The most important thing for a creative person to excel at his work is when he is allowed the freedom of expression. This automatically translated into one’s body of work. Working here at Assemblage, I have been given the kind of freedom that a film maker can only dream of!”
Congratulating Ramana on his recent success, ArjunMadhavan, Head of Strategy and New Business at Assemblage adds, “Ramana’s ability to translate his creative visualisation into celluloid, over a weekend’s worth of a shoot has been very impressive. Kudos to him, the brilliant actors and execution team for pulling this off!”
Living Idle is a symbolic short film that reflects actions have consequences. This is the story of an artist, a creative sculptor of idols,that puts life and colour into clusters of mud and clay. Ironically, he fails to add colour to his own creation- his world, his family, his child. The narrative revolves around how a creation of the sculptor- an idol of Ma Durga punishes him (by rendering him indisposed and idle), when he crosses all limits of abuse and shows him a life of yearning. The film concludes with a deep dawn of realisation – of how a single action- takes away from him his ability to be a prolific sculptor- that of clay and stone and that of his child’s future. The film is embedded with contrasting symbolism, as aptly reflected in its title, most strongly that of the strength of a woman, of a mother, which is – representative in Ma Durga’s rendition of ‘Good over Evil’.
The hunger for food, the hunger for physical fulfilment and the hunger for creativity are natural, necessary, and common human instincts. However, an unbalanced, excessive, and uncontrolled desire to fulfil one’s hunger leads to dire consequences, which is the story of ‘Living Idle’.
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.
