Hindi
India’s a big part at the 66th Cannes Film Festival
MUMBAI: Hindi film actress Vidya Balan and ‘Life of Pi‘ director Ang Lee will be part of the prestigious 66th Cannes Film Festival‘s nine-member jury. The jury will be headed by Hollywood director Steven Spielberg.
The other big names joining Spielberg are Oscar-winning actress Nicole Kidman, Oscar-winner Christophe Waltz, Japanese director Naomi Kawase, Scottish director Lynne Ramsay, French actor-director Daniel Auteuil and Romanian director Cristian Mungiu.
The jury will award the coveted Palme d‘Or prize to one of the 19 films in competition at this year‘s festival, which runs from May 15 to 26.
Balan, 35, currently one of the most successful actors in India, is best known for her path-breaking roles in films like The Dirty Picture, Bhool Bhulaiya, Kahaani and Parineeta.
Apart from Balan, actor/director Nandita Das is also a part of a separate jury for short films. Director Shekhar Kapur and actress Sharmila Tagore have previously featured in the Cannes jury.
Cannes has invited India this year to celebrate 100 years of the country‘s cinema. The festival will open with ‘The Great Gatsby‘, which also has Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan in a cameo. The actor will be attending the opening ceremony with his daughter-in-law Aishwarya Rai, a regular at Cannes‘ red carpet. This year she has been extended a special invite to the festival.
This year, four Indian films have been selected in different non-competition categories at Cannes. Bombay Talkies, an anthology film by four directors – Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar and Karan Johar – will have a gala screening at the festival.
Kashyap will also be screening his Ugly in festival‘s Directors‘ Fortnight sidebar where he earlier showcased his two-part revenge drama Gangs of Wasseypur.
Dabba (Lunchbox) and Monsoon Shootout, co-produced by Kashyap, have been selected for Cannes Critics Week and Midnight Screening sections respectively.
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.
