Hindi
Single screens save R…Rajkumar’s face
Mumbai: The latest film to come from the Prabhu Deva stable R…. Rajkumar was thrashed by the film critics. Following the trend, the film met with firewall at multiplexes with its crude approach and poor content. However, single screens proved face saving for the film in hinterlands, especially in the Hindi belt in the opening weekend as it managed to garner figures of Rs 26.6 crore.
The poor run continued as another film launched on 6 December, Club 60, a delightful film about lonely senior citizens who find shelter in a club and in each other’s company, had a very weak opening as expected.
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Even the Nawab Saif Ali Khan wouldn’t save Bullet Raja. The film had an unimpressive run following poor public reports. The film managed to add a little over 10 crore in four days to its opening weekend of Rs 19.7 and ending its first week with Rs 29.75 crore.
Singh Saab The Great collected Rs 6.1 crore in its second week taking its two week total to 26.9 crore while Gori Tere Pyar Mein continued its poor run in its second week by adding just 3.75 crore to its first week figures and taking its two week total to 25.85 crore.
The only two silver linings for the film industry have been Galiyon Ki Rasleela: Ram-Leela which joined the 100 crore club as it held on well in its third week by collecting 8.5 crore. This takes the film’s three week total to 100.3 crore of which half came from Bombay Circuit.
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.
