Hindi
Nitin Desai to start shooting Shivaji biopic this month
MUMBAI: In continuation with the recent craze of biopics, Nitin Chandrakant Desai has made one on Maharashtra‘s legendary warrior king Shivaji Maharaj. The film Raja Shivchattrapati, made after a constant demand of the viewers of the popular television serial, will go on the floors this month by Desai’s Iconic Chandrakant Productions Pvt. Ltd (ICPPL).
Raja Shivchattrapati includes eight major incidences of Shivaji that created history like birth of Shivaji, oath taken for Hindiva Swarajya at Rohideshwar temple, defeat of Afzal Khan, siege of Panhala by Siddi Jauhar, battle of Pavan Khind, attack on Shaista Khan, arrest in Agra and escape and coronation.
Talking on the launch, Desai said, “The history of India is incomplete without the history of Marathas and Shivaji is the centre of that history. We are blessed with the golden opportunity to make this epic movie and a huge privilege. We continue to live by abiding to Maharaj‘s core values as he has laid strong emphasis on culture, which is an integral part of every individual‘s life. In our effort to take Shivaji‘s values and culture globally, we have started working on a big international 3D movie on Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Hindi and English for the global audience.”
The television show, which was aired for over 200 hours, was shot by epic technology with a vision of film quality output. It was a mammoth task for the team of ICPPL to convert the entire show into a film of 134 minutes. Except the shoot, the complete technical process had to be reworked like Dolby Digital, sound mix, colour corrections and graphics.
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.
