Hindi
NFDC unveils the 20 films to be screened at Film Bazaar
NEW DELHI: The Film Bazaar, a part of 44th International Film Festival organised by NFDC will showcase twenty Indian and Bangladeshi feature and non-feature films in the Market Recommendation section.
Market Recommendations showcase select films looking for gap finance, distribution partners and world sales.
While The Film Bazaar will be held from 20 to 24 November at Marriott Resort alongside IFFI (International Film Festival of India) that will go on from 20 November to 30 November.
The “Film Bazaar Recommends” Attihannu Mattu Kanaja (Fig Fruit and The Wasps) directed by M S Prakash Babu, Chaurya (Theft) directed by Sameer Patil, Chikka Putta
(Small Things, Big Things) directed by Saumyananda Sahi, Coffee Bloom directed by Manu Warrier, It’s not about the Cycle directed by Achyutanand Dwivedi, Jai Ho – A Film On A R Rahman directed by Umesh Aggarwal, Jayjaykar (Triumph of Life) directed by Shantanu Ganesh Rode, Kutchi Vahan Pani Wala (From Gulf to Gulf to Gulf) directed by Shaina Anand and Ashok Sukumaran, Lajwanti (The Honor Keeper) directed by Pushpender Singh, M Cream directed by Agneya Singh, Margarita, With A Straw directed by Shonali Bose, Mrs. Scooter directed by Shiladitya Moulik, Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi by Sameer Thahir, Rangbhoomi by Kamal Swaroop, That Sinking Feeling by Nandan Saxena, Titli by Kanu Behl, Under Construction by Rubaiyat Hossain, Vees Mhanje Vees (Twenty Means Twenty) by Uday Bhandarkar, Yahaan Sab ki Lagi Hai (Everybody Gets Screwed Here) by Satavisha Bose & Cyrus Khambata, Zinda Bhaag by Meenu and Farjad.
In the meanwhile, NFDC has also announced five projects of its Work-In-Progress Lab programme, of which four are part of the Market Recommendations. The Work-in-Progress Lab gives five filmmakers a chance to have their rough-cut feature length films viewed by a panel of international advisors who have a one-on-one discussion with the filmmaker with an intention to help the filmmaker achieve an accomplished final cut of the film.
Apart from Titli, Margarita, With A Straw, Attihannu Mattu Kanaja, and the Bangladeshi Under Construction, the other finalist in the Lab is Killa by director Avinash Arun in Marathi.
Of the above, Kanu Behl’s Titli produced by Dibakar Banerjee was a part of the sixth edition of NFDC Film Bazaar’s Screenwriters’ Lab and Co-production Market 2012. Yash Raj Films came on board later as a co-producer of the film.
The mentors of the lab this year are: Rome Film Festival artistic director Marco Mueller; British Film Critic and Historian Derek Malcolm; chairman of ADEF and Rezo Films Laurent Danielou; and acclaimed producer and script consultant Philippa Campbell.
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.
