Hindi
‘PK’ overtakes ‘Dhoom 3’ as the number one Bollywood movie
MUMBAI: Aamir Khan, one of Bollywood’s stars known for blockbusters like Lagaan, 3 Idiots and Dhoom 3 has officially outdone himself.
The recently released PK, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, has become the highest-grossing Bollywood movie ever making $65.2 million in India, $9.15 million in North America and $1.9 million in Australia at the end of the second week. Clearly, it has proved to be the international market’s top foreign-language title of 2014, accumulating a total of $86.2 million internationally.
The movie, which released on 19 December 2014 and produced by Rajkumar Hirani, Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Siddharth Roy Kapur has beaten records previously set by Aamir Khan’s 2013 megahit Dhoom 3. The story sees Khan as an alien who lands in India with a mission to study life on Earth. He ends up asking innocent questions that hold a deep and valuable meaning about the belief system that humans have created to reach God. The film has stirred up some controversy over its faith-based elements.
Khan has no release in this year but having crossed the unprecedented Rs 300 crore mark at the box office, PK has become the biggest blockbuster of all time. His film Ghajini was the first to cross the Rs 100 crore mark while 3 Idiots followed as the first film to make over Rs 200 crore.
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.
