Dhallywood megastar Shakib Khan aims to outdo his previous projects with each new film: in terms of scale, budget and grandeur. This trend has become especially evident in the past three years, leaving fans curious about the budgets of his upcoming ventures ‘Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka’ and ‘Soldier’.
Rumours suggest that Prince carries a budget of around Tk 20 crore. A large part of this stems from Shakib Khan’s now-confirmed Tk 3 crore remuneration. The film has also hired a cinematographer who has recently worked on a major Bollywood production, charging over Tk 1 crore.
With three heroines in the cast, each paid a substantial fee, producer Shirin Sultana has reportedly allocated Tk 5 to Tk 7 crore for artistes’ remuneration alone.
Expensive choreography and elaborate set designs add further costs, making the project one of the biggest-budget films in Dhallywood to date, with the ambition of surpassing the Tk 16.5 crore spent on Mehedi Hasan Hridoy’s ‘Borbaad’.
Director Abu Hayat Mahmud, however, downplayed budget comparisons. “We haven’t set a fixed figure. Our priority is to spend whatever is needed to make the film properly. Whether it’s shooting requirements or hiring the right people, the producer is ready to support it. It’s not about surpassing anyone; it’s about making a good film on a bigger scale,” he said.
Meanwhile, Shakib Khan’s other project Soldier, directed by Shakib Fahad, is said to have an even larger budget of around Tk 25 crore. The cast includes Chanchal Chowdhury and Tauquir Ahmed alongside Shakib.
High salaries for the lead artistes, along with foreign cinematographers and action directors, each costing close to Tk 1 crore, are contributing to the swelling expenses. Multiple sets will be constructed, requiring significant investment to achieve realism.
Insiders, however, claim that speculation about the film’s budget is exaggerated, though they admit the production involves elements never attempted in Bangladeshi cinema, making it impossible to execute on a modest budget.
In Prince, Shakib Khan plays a gangster, with three heroines opposite him — Nazifa Tushi and Kolkata’s Idhika Pal are among those tipped to be on the final cast list.
In Soldier, it was initially rumoured that Shakib would portray slain Major Sinha, who was extrajudicially killed at Cox’s Bazar. The production team later dismissed this, clarifying that he will play a top intelligence officer instead. Tanjin Tisha has been confirmed as his co-star.