Hindi
Third Indian Screenwriters conference in Mumbai from 25-27 Feb
MUMBAI: The 3rd Indian Screenwriters‘ conference will be held from 25 to 27 February at Bandra in Mumbai.
Organised by the Film Writers Association (FWA), the conference will be attended by a host of senior writer-directors from the industry and experienced lawyers and legal experts. But, there is a hitch, only members of the FWA are eligible to attend the event. Non-members will need to register as members first.
The agenda of the conference has been divided in two parts. One is the ‘creative issues‘ of television and film writers and the other is professional and legal issues faced by them.
According to the FWA website, the first includes deliberations on the “disconnect/connect of popular entertainment with our social reality, questions of why a society in dramatic transition is not reflected in our cinema and TV, the representation and portrayal of women in our stories, whether and how these interpretations influence audiences, the new definition of heroism in cinema today and the rise of machismo, what happened to the common man‘s issues, why most TV shows seem to lose the plot, what is really driving content on TV today, does the screenwriter have a social responsibility, and such.
The latter will address the provisions of the Minimum Basic Contract for film writers and the Minimum Basic Contract for TV writers and the Copyright Act.
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.
