Hindi
India’s only traveling film festival returns to Mumbai
MUMBAI: Touted to be India’s only traveling film festival, the 6th of Jagran Film Festival will celebrate its last leg in Mumbai from 28 September to 4 October. With Fun Cinemas as its screening partner, the festival’s theme this year is ‘Happiness.’
The gala opening of the seven-day festival in Mumbai will bring together films under competitive categories such as ’Indian Showcase,’ ‘Jagran Shorts’ (an international competition for short films), ‘Cinema of the Sellers’ and ‘Debut Directors.’
The festival will also pay tribute to the films of the golden era in the ‘Retrospective’ section. In its quest to showcase the best of international cinema, this edition will present a collection of 10 Best International Short films under a special section ‘Top Shorts.’
Jagran Film Festival strategic consultant Manoj Srivastava said, “This year, we have tried to exceed our own benchmarks while curating a film extravaganza that not only showcases some of the finest films from India and the world over, but also leaves indelible imprints on everyone who has an insatiable appetite for narrating and discovering stories. From exploring newer cultures, to learning some rare film skills, the Mumbai edition is packed with a whole bunch of out-of-the-world experiences for every curious and film-loving heart in India.”
The festival will also feature a rendezvous with some masters of the cinema world who engage, enlighten and educate on various topics in their workshops and master classes. Film enthusiasts in Mumbai can experience the first brush of this year’s creative workshops everyday from 29 September – 4 October from 11 am onwards. The sessions range from Public Interviews, Master Classes to subjects like Casting in Cinema, Finding Money for films, Meet the Director, Making Advertising films, Selling films and many more.
As the official country focus partner, American Center will also screen some well-known American classics. This year, the festival has also got on board Whistling Woods International (WWI), Film Federation of India (FFI) and Motion Pictures Dist. Association (India) Pvt Ltd as partners.
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.
