Hindi
MAMI gets going with Sridevi lighting inaugural lamp
MUMBAI: Amid much fanfare, the 14th Mumbai Film Festival, presented by Reliance Entertainment and American Express got off to a grand opening with Sridevi lighting the inaugural lamp along with veteran film maker Shyam Benegal, chairman and trustees of Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI).
The opening function also saw the introduction and felicitation of the jury members of international competition India Gold 2012, Celebrate Age and Dimensions Mumbai. “We look forward to another year of bringing superlative global cinema to our patrons and promoting budding talent at the festival,” commented festival director Srinivasan Narayanan.
The function continued with Anil Kapoor calling on stage Anupam Kher, whose critically acclaimed comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook kick-started the 8-day long festival. The film is directed by David O Russell and stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. Speaking on the occasion Kher said, “I have always endeavoured to make films with passion and I am glad to have been provided with an opportunity to work with such amazing co-actors.”
Chief initiator of the festival, Tina Ambani conferred director, producer, writer and actor from the People‘s Republic of China Zhang Yimou the Lifetime Achievement Award for Foreign Film Personalities. “The 14th Mumbai Festival is an initiative truly close to my heart and a very special connection to my cinematic roots,” she observed.
The opening day function‘s red carpet and movie screening witnessed a host of film artistes, filmmakers, renowned litterateurs and cine-philes including Jaya Bachchan, Manisha Koirala, Leander Paes, Shobhaa and Dilip De, Ila Arun, Kirron Kher, Rahul Bose, Ranvir Shorey, Milind Soman, Shahana Goswami, R. Balki with wife and filmmaker Gauri Shinde, Pritish Nandy, Sridhar Raghavan, Sanjay and Ambika Suri,Dibakar Banerjee and Hansal Mehta among others.
All in all, the first day of the 14th Mumbai Film Festival set pace for the week-long cinematic extravaganza that promises to feature the finest works of cinematic genius from a lineup of over 200 films.
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.
