Hindi
National Film Archive of India to pay homage to Smita Patil
NEW DELHI: A two-day film festival to remember versatile actress Smita Patil on her sixtieth birth anniversary is being held by the National Film Archive of India (NFAI) in Pune.
‘Remembering Smita’ on 17 and 18 October will also showcase a rare poster and photo exhibition on her from the NFAI collection.
The festival will showcase eight films including her debut short film Teevra Madhyam. Other films includeBhavni Bahvai, Akaler Sandhaney, Jait Re Jait, Bazaar, Debshishu, Tarang, and Chidambaram. Out of these films, three films – Akaler Sandhaney, Jait Re Jait and Chidambaram have been restored by NFAI.
The Festival is a tribute to the multi-talented actress who died on 13 December, 1986 at the age of 31 due to childbirth complications.
The festival would be inaugurated on 17 October at 11 am by actor Amol Palekar.
A panel discussion on Patil will be held at 6 pm on 18 October with Dr Jabbar Patel, Dr Mohan Agashe and Lalita Tamhane as participants. The discussion would deliberate upon her unique style, her acting career and contribution to the film industry.
The venue for the festival is NFAI campus, Law College road, Pune.
A film, television and theatre personality regarded as one of the finest actresses of all time, Patil worked in around 80 Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam and Bengali films. She left her mark with two National film awards for best actress and Padma Shri in 1985.
Born on 17 October, 1955, Patil graduated from the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Puneand made her film debut with Shyam Benegal’s Charandas Chor (1975). Some of the other films that sheappeared in include Manthan (1977), Bhumika (1977), Aakrosh (1980), Chakra (1981), Chidambaram (1985), Mirch Masala (1985) and Namak Halaal amongst others.
The schedule of the festival is as below,
Inauguration: 17 October, 2015 at 11 am
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.
