Hindi
Kahaani maker Sujoy Ghosh rubbishes talks of plagirism
MUMBAI: Sujoy Ghosh has trashed stories about his film Kahaani’s climax bearing a striking resemblance with that of the Angelina Jolie-starrer Taking Lives.
The ending of Taking Lives shows a heavily pregnant Jolie sitting alone in her house when she discovers a serial killer. She tries to escape but is overpowered by him and is punched and thrown to the ground. During the altercation, the serial killer begins to choke her and eventually stabs her in her pregnant belly with a pair of scissors.
Jolie, seemingly unharmed by the stabbing, shocks him by quickly stabbing him with the same pair of scissors. As the killer lies dying, Jolie removes a prosthetic pregnant belly, and says the past seven months have been a planned trap.
In Kahaani, the protagonist Vidya Bagchi too is heavily pregnant and in search of a man who looks like her husband Arnab Bagchi. The lady also gets into a similar act by killing the person, not with a pair of scissors, but with her hairpin.
Said Ghosh, “Since I started making Kahaani, people spoke about so many sources that it has been copied from. In this country, where people don‘t know about Satyajit Ray, Yash Chopra and Manmohan Desai, it‘s amazing to note people are aware of films made in distant land seven years ago in 2004,” adding, “ does this mean two lookalike people from different parts of the world have the same root.”
According to Ghosh, his portrayal of Vidya Bagchi was to get to the fore the prowess of Maa Durga killing the evil. “Did Jolie also play Maa Durga or was she possessed by the goddess?” Ghosh questions.
While the Jolie film received mostly poor reviews, Ghosh’s Kahaani has turned out to be a runaway hit.
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.
