Hindi
SACF celebrates life and work of Dev Anand
MUMBAI: The South Asian Cinema Foundation‘s (SACF) ‘A Musical Journey through the Dev Anand Era‘, reminded people of the golden period of Indian cinema recently when it celebrated the life and work of the late actor.
The SACF event saw live performances by the young as well as veteran singers and instrumentalists and a running narrative by the film historian and the director of SACF, Lalit Mohan Joshi in the presence of Dev Anand‘s family members among others.
Produced by SACF in association with the Nehru Centre, the programme presented a historical perspective of Indian Cinema‘s Golden Era.
Dev Anand, who expired in December last year, brought together and nurtured great icons of the Indian film industry like SD Burman, Sahir Ludhianvi, Guru Dutt, Raj Khosla, Kishore Kumar, Geeta Dutt, Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhonsle and Lata Mangeshkar.
After Dev Anand got his first major break in Ziddi in 1948, he formed his own film company Navketan in 1949. For the next three decades he produced classics like Baazi (1951), Taxi Driver (1954), CID (1956), Hum Dono (1961), Guide (1965), Jewel Thief (1967), Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971) and Des Pardes (1978).
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.
