Hindi
Ultra making Jal Bin Jalpari with Panda at helm
MUMBAI: Ultra Distributors, the Rs 3 billion film production, distribution and restoration company headquartered in Mumbai, is in the process of making a children‘s film titled Jal Bin Jalpari directed by Nila Madhab Panda, known for his debut film I Am Kalam.
Ultra group CEO Sushil Kumar Agrawal said, “After watching I Am Kalam, I was fascinated about the film, message and the director‘s vision. When Panda, narrated me the story of Jal bin Jalpari, I was very much confident of his vision and thought that this is the best opportunity to be socially active through mainstream cinema.”
The film will tackle issues like increasing water scarcity and the skewed child sex ratio through the children‘s viewpoint.
The cast of the film comprises of Parvin Dabas, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Suhasini Mulay, VM Badola, Rahul Singh and Harsh Mayar of I Am Kalam.
The film will be shot in one single schedule in November-December in various locations in north India, including Haryana and Delhi.
Two Delhi kids, Lehar Khan and Krishang Trivedi are playing the protagonist duo of Shreya and Sam, while Salman and Hebron from NGOs Salaam Balak Trust and Ummeed will play other vital child characters along with Harsh Mayar.
Panda, recently back from Cinekid International Film Festival, Amsterdam, said that buyers from countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, Taiwan and Argentina have evinced great interest in the new film considering that I Am Kalam did very good business in these countries.
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.
