Hindi
Irrfan Khan signs third international film
MUMBAI: After having worked in films like The Amazing Spider-Man, and Ang Lee‘s Life of Pi, Irrfan Khan has been signed to work in an Indo-European venture titled Qissa. The film is being co-produced by German-Dutch-French and NFDC.
NFDC managing director Nina Lath Gupta said, “Germany‘s Heimat Films met up with us at Rotterdam Cinemart. They are the principal producers of the film, and then, Dutch production house Augustus Films, France‘s Cine-Sud and India‘s NFDC joined hands. We have planned at a medium budget level.”
Khan said, “I am excited about this venture. Set in the interiors of 1940s Punjab, Qissa will revolve around a logger who is seeking to rebuild his life after the Partition of India. A fine emotional narrative, it also explores his relationship with his son.”
The film will be made in Punjabi with subtitles for an international audience, and will be distributed worldwide.
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.
