Hindi
T-Series ties up with Friday Filmworks and Crouching Tiger for Neeraj Pandey’s next
MUMBAI: T-Series has entered into an alliance with Crouching Tiger Motion Pictures and Friday Filmworks to jointly produce acclaimed director Neeraj Pandey’s up-coming film starring Akshay Kumar. The deal will enable T-Series to market and distribute the film across the globe.
The currently untitled film will see the super-hit combination of Akshay Kumar and Neeraj Pandey coming together after 2013’s ‘Special 26’ – a film that not only met with significant box office success but also remains one of the most liked and talked-about films of recent years. In his second outing with Akshay, Neeraj takes the reigns of an action-thriller shot across multiple foreign locations. Shooting has already commenced and the film is set to hit theatres worldwide on 23 January 2015.
T-Series managing director Bhushan Kumar said, “I am extremely proud and happy to partner with Friday Filmworks and Crouching Tiger for Neeraj’s upcoming film. At T-Series, we have believed in backing genre-breaking content and films that connect with today’s audiences. We have always loved and respected Neeraj’s work and I look forward to him and Akshay creating magic for their fans yet again.”
Shital Bhatia of Friday Filmworks added, “It is imperative for good content to be projected well and we are delighted with T-Series coming on-board. I am confident that this relationship will take the film farther and wider to its audiences.”
“This alliance symbolizes the synergies that define cinema of the future in India – high quality content, impactful marketing and audience connect. We are confident that under Neeraj’s creative vision, this film will set new benchmarks for the action-thriller genre in India,” concluded Crouching Tiger Motion Pictures’ Vikram Malhotra.
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.
