Hindi
YIFF honours 50 years of Nishant with Naseeruddin Shah
MUMBAI: Half a century on, the revolution still reels. The Yellowstone International Film Festival (YIFF) 2025 will open with a special tribute to Shyam Benegal’s path-breaking classic Nishant, marking 50 years of one of Indian cinema’s most defining social dramas.
The commemorative screening, set for 13 November 2025 at St. Andrew’s Auditorium, Bandra, will be graced by veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah, who made one of his earliest and most memorable appearances in the film.
Released in 1975, Nishant brought together a powerhouse cast including Smita Patil, Girish Karnad, Amrish Puri, and Naseeruddin Shah, earning the National Film Award for best feature film in Hindi and international acclaim at Cannes. Renowned for its unflinching social realism and moral complexity, the film remains a cornerstone of Benegal’s cinema.
“Fifty years since its release, Nishant still mirrors power, morality, and human resilience,” said YIFF festival director Anshika Singh. “To honour both Nishant’s golden jubilee and Naseeruddin Shah’s 50 years in cinema, we’re thrilled to screen the newly restored 2K version at our opening ceremony. Having Shah Sahab with us makes this moment truly special.”
The tribute marks the official opening of YIFF 2025, a week-long celebration of Indian and global cinema from 13 to 20 November, featuring over 120 films across PVR Lido, Veda Black Box, and Veda Kunba Theatre.
This year’s line-up includes acclaimed titles such as Aisha Can’t Fly Away, Caravan, Holy Rosita, Aurora, Beautiful Evening, Beautiful Day, and The Second Coming, alongside Indian standouts like Kaisi Ye Paheli and Dream Factory.
The festival will also feature masterclasses with filmmakers Hansal Mehta, Shoojit Sircar, and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, along with industry panels on diversity, empathy, and the future of storytelling.
As the curtains rise on this cinematic celebration, YIFF 2025 promises to be a heartfelt homage to storytelling that continues to question, move, and inspire, just as Nishant did half a century ago.
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.
