Sanjay Dutt, who starred in the original film, along with producer Aksha Kamboj, acquired the rights to the 1993 Bollywood blockbuster Kaal Nayak, with Jio Studios coming on board to present and produce the project.
Dutt’s Three Dimension Motion Pictures and Kamboj’s Aspect Entertainment have jointly secured the rights from ‘Khal Nayak’s’ original creator Subhash Ghai and Mukta Arts. Jio Studios president Jyoti Deshpande will creatively oversee the venture. The exact format, whether it will be a remake, sequel, prequel, or a completely original screenplay built on the original, has not yet been revealed.
Written, directed and produced by Ghai, ‘Kaal Nayak’ co-starred Dutt with Madhuri Dixit, Jackie Shroff, Anupam Kher and Rakhi Gulzar. The film’s plot revolves around two police officers, Ram and Ganga, chasing fugitive criminal Baloo, and the role established Dutt as one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood at a time when leading characters with shades of gray were rare in mainstream Hindi films. The film created a huge controversy over its song ‘Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai’ due to its provocative lyrics. It was the second highest grossing Hindi film of the year.
The project will be the first production venture for Aspect Entertainment, the film division of Kamboi’s Aspect Global conglomerate.
“‘Kaal Nayak’ stood out as an era-defining film, much like the ‘Dhulandhar’ dilogy does today,” Deshpande said. “We aim to reintroduce this iconic character to the big screen for a new generation and are delighted to announce our collaboration with Sanjay and Aksha.”
“It has been a long-held dream of mine to be able to revive this film, so we have acquired the rights legally,” Dutt added. “I would like to thank Mr. Subhashji and the team at Mukta Arts for entrusting us with this legacy.”
“This will be our first venture under the Aspect Entertainment banner,” Kamboj said. “Having Jio Studios present this to us, along with their track record of blockbusters with Jyoti Deshpande, we have a great combination that makes this journey all the more exciting to begin.”
Jio Studios, the media and content arm of Reliance Industries Limited, has enjoyed great success at the Hindi box office over the last three years with ‘Street 2’ (2024), ‘Dhulandar’ (2025) and ‘Dhulandar: The Revenge’ (2026) all becoming blockbusters.
