Hindi
Mumbai film festival announces lineup
MUMBAI: The 13th Mumbai Film Festival, a Reliance entertainment initiative, has announced the lineup of about 200 films that would be screened under various sections films.
Scheduled to be held from 13 to 20 October, the 13th Mumbai Film Festival aims to showcase the truly global cinema. While Cinemax Versova would be the main hub of the festival, screenings would be held at Metro Big Cinemas and Cinemax Sion.
While the Brad Pitt starrer Moneyball will be the opening film of the festival, the Morgan Freeman starrer Dolphin Tale will close the festival. Among the films that will have their India premieres would be Melancholia directed by Lars Von Tier, The Whistle Blower, George Clooney‘s The Ides of March and Wim Wenders-directed Pina.
Announcing the lineup of films, Benegal said: “A feast of films awaits you at the 13th Mumbai Film Festival. We are extremely proud of the fact that Mumbai Film Festival is fast getting recognised to be the best international film festival in this country.”
Other films will compete for $200,000 under the three competition sections – ‘International Competition for the first feature films of directors‘; ‘Dimensions Mumbai‘; and ‘Harmony Celebrate Age‘.
Averred Mumbai film festival director Srinivasan Naryanan, “This year the selection committee had its task cut out for them. They had to choose from over 800 films to finally zero down on such a closely competitive lineup.”
The festival will pay tribute to Shammi Kapoor, M.F.Hussain and Mani Kaul with special screenings of their works. Additionally, a film retrospective of Jury President, Hugh Hudson‘s works including Revolution Revisited and I Dreamed of Africa would be screened.
Noted poet, lyricist, script writer and director, Gulzar will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
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.
