Hindi
Rowdy Rathore becomes this year’s biggest weekend grosser
MUMBAI: Rowdy Rathore has made the most of its mass appeal and an exhaustive release, as many as 2,800 prints across India. The film has also marked Akshay Kumar’s reentry to the action movie genre.
The film has gone on to collect Rs 483 million in its opening weekend, making it the highest weekend grosser in this year and fifth highest so far.
Bodyguard topped with Rs 889.5 million (from five-day weekend), followed by Ra.One (Rs 803 million from 5 days), Agneepath (Rs 620 million from 4-day weekend) and Dabangg (Rs 48.8 million).
Among the other films, Department dropped beyond salvation in its second week managing to collect just Rs 7.5 million, taking its two-week total to Rs 118.5 million and making it a loss-making project.
Ishqzaade continued to hold its own and collected Rs 75.5 million in the third week, recording a handsome total of Rs 458 million.
Dangerous Ishq added Rs 4 million in its third week, taking its tally to Rs 67 million and, thus, making it a major loser.
Jannat 2 has managed to stay above the Rs 10 million mark with collections of Rs 11 million in its fourth week. It took the four-week net collections to Rs 459 million.
Vicky Donour maintained its excellent run at the box office by collecting Rs 21.5 million in its sixth week, which takes its total to Rs 404.5 million. It is set to be a hit.
Housefull2 has come towards the end of its run with a symbolic contribution of Rs 2 million in its eighth week. The film has so far mopped up Rs 1.19 billion.
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.
