Hindi
NFDC India Screenwriters’ Lab 2013 heads to TIFF
MUMBAI: Announcing its final selection of six projects for the 2013Screenwriters’ Lab, from over 350 applications, NFDC (National Film Development Corporation – India) relocates the first stage of its Lab to Toronto in co-operation with TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). The Lab has previously been hosted by Locarno and Venice festivals, each having welcomed two editions of the Screenwriters’ Lab.
TIFF Bailey Artistic director Cameron said, “Indian independent cinema is taking the world by storm and it all begins with its screenwriters. We’re proud to welcome this workshop to the Toronto International Film Festival, and support the NFDC’s important work.”
NFDC MD Nina Lath Gupta said, “NFDC is delighted to be expanding it’s long relationship with the festival by bringing the now renowned Film Bazaar Screenwriters’ Lab to Toronto for the first time, allowing our 6 writers’ creative process to be imbedded within TIFF, especially as Ritesh Batra’s acclaimed The Lunchbox, developed in our 2011 edition of this same lab is honoured with a Gala screening on 8 September”
The six projects selected are to be work-shopped first in Toronto and further in Goa in November, before being presented in the annual Film Bazaar Co Pro Market:Nikhil Mahajan’s first feature Pune 52 was released in 2013 and was a follow up to his feature Doc Half a Billion Dreams (2011)
Bela Negi wrote and directed the 2010 comedy Daayen Ya Baayen (Right or Left) and revisits the quirkiness of Indian rural life in this project which will be her second feature
Varun Grover is perhaps best known for his collaboration with Anurag Kashyap as lyricist for That Girl in the Yellow Boots and Gangs of Wasseypur, and Vasan Bala’s Peddlers, Varun also has emerged through TV stand-up comedy writing.
Shanker Raman is an award winning Cinematographer and (co) writer known for Frozen (TIFF 2007) and Harud (Autumn- TIFF 2010)
Ashish Aryan is transitioning from a successful commercials career, taking on his first feature film with his project T for Taj Mahal, which he’ll be co-writing with Sachin Ladia, one of the writers of Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur
Rajesh Jalla is a renowned documentary director best known for Children of the Pyre (Best Doc Montreal 2013) who turns his lyrical style towards his first fiction feature project.
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.
