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Khadaan is a 2024 Indian Bengali-language action thriller film written and directed by Soojit Rino Dutta.[6][7] Jointly produced by Nispal Singh and Dev under the banners of Surinder Films and Dev Entertainment Ventures respectively,[8] the film stars Dev in dual roles,[9] alongside Jisshu Sengupta in lead roles, while Barkha Bisht, Idhika Paul, Anirban Chakrabarti, John Bhattacharya and Sneha Bose play other pivotal roles.[10][11] It will mark Dev's debut as creative director[12] and a comeback to the action genre after a few years.[13][14]
| Khadaan | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Soojit Rino Dutta |
| Screenplay by | Biswaroop Biswas Soojit Rino Dutta Additional screenplay: Rohit-Soumyo |
| Dialogues by | Soojit Rino Dutta Biswaroop Biswas |
| Story by | Soojit Rino Dutta |
| Produced by | Nispal Singh Dev |
| Starring | Dev Jisshu Sengupta Barkha Bisht Idhika Paul Anirban Chakrabarti |
| Narrated by | Sabyasachi Chakraborty |
| Cinematography | Shailesh Awashthi |
| Edited by | MD. Kalam |
| Music by | Songs: Rathijit Bhattyacharya Nilayan Chatterjee Savvy Background score: Rathijit Bhattyacharya |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | Surinder Films Dev Entertainment Ventures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 138 minutes[1] |
| Country | India |
| Language | Bengali |
| Budget | ₹6 crore[2][3] |
| Box office | ₹3.5 crore[4][5] |
The film was officially announced on 1 January 2024 with a character motion poster.[15][16] Principal photography commenced on 16 February 2024 in Kolkata,[17][18] with the major filming taking place in Asansol, Durgapur and Raniganj in subsequent schedules.[19] The soundtrack and background score of the film is composed by Rathijit Bhattyacharya, Savvy and Nilayan Chatterjee.[20][21] The screenplay and dialogues of the film are written by Biswaroop Biswas and Dutta himself respectively.[22][23]
Extensively shot across the coal mines of Bengal, the film is based upon the gruesome tale of revolt, tussle for power and friendship between two workers in the coal mines of Damodar Valley,[24] who try to change to change their fate along with the destiny of the other workers.[25][26] Khadaan was released in the theatres on 20 December 2024, on the eve of Christmas[27][28] clashing with Mithun Chakraborty starrer Shontaan.[29][30]
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1997: After losing everything in Bangladesh, Shyam comes to India as an illegal immigrant by crossing the border.[31] Here he went to work as a laborer in the coal mines of the Damodar Valley and there he meets Mohan, a Vaishnavite.[32] Over the time, they developed a strong bond of friendship. Together with Shyam's strength and Mohan's mastermind, they gained monopoly control over the entire colliery. They had developed their complete influence over the coal syndicate.[33]
This amplification in power bought them in a stand against the local MLA, Shehzad Siddique. In the mean time, Shyam has become a messiah for the poor labourers, mostly belonging from the local adivasi community. He didn't support the idea of grabbing their agricultural lands and on the top, gave them 20 percent share of the coal khadaan. In an heated confrontation and argument, Shyam killed a police officer. This resulted in him going behind the bars, where he mysteriously dies.[34]
2024: Now, Mohan has become a rich industrialist in that region through the illegal coal syndicate and has also gained monopoly over the mines. He gently offers Shyam's son Madhu to join his team, who is just a coal transporter now. This does not go well with Makhan, Mohan's son who had hoped to inherit his father's business.[35][36]
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- Dev in dual roles
- Jisshu Sengupta as Mohan Das, Shyam's friend turned enemy, the main antagonist[39]
- Barkha Bisht as Jamuna, Shyam's wife[40]
- Idhika Paul as Latika, Madhu's wife[41]
- Anirban Chakrabarti as Balai Mandi[42]
- Sneha Bose as Rekha, Mohan's wife[43]
- John Bhattacharya as Makhan Das, Mohan's son[44]
- Raja Dutta as Bhojon[45]
- Aayan Sohan
- Parthasarathi Chakraborty as Gokul Das
- Sumit Ganguly as Billu Paswan
- Sujan Neel Mukherjee as Shehzad Siddique, the local MLA, later minister
- Biswajit Ghosh
- Raima Pal[46]
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Development
In August 2023, there were rumours that Raj Chakraborty is collaborating with Dev for an action film, which would be based on coal smuggling, under the production of Shree Venkatesh Films. But later it was revealed during mid-September, that Dev opted out of Chakraborty's project due to date issues and Mithun Chakraborty signed the film.[citation needed] In December 2023, it was confirmed that the coal smuggling based film originally was pitched by Soojit Rino Dutta,[47][48][49] while Raj Chakraborty's film was different, which Dev previously turned down. Surinder Films came on the board associating with Dev Entertainment Ventures to co-produce the film.[50][51]
Pre-production and announcement
Initially during the timespace of 2015-2016, Soojit Rino Dutta began researching at the coal mining areas and explored the subject of coal smuggling and the socio-political events related with the residents of those surroundings.[citation needed] After he finished the research, playwright Biswaroop Biswas completed the screenplay, while Dutta himself wrote dialogues. Since most of the film takes place in a rural backdrop, Dev was reported to have learned the Santhali accent for the film.[52] The story is set against the backdrop of Raniganj, located in the region of Asansol. Initially Nilayan Chatterjee was reported to be the music director of the film, while Rathijit Bhattyacharya and Savvy also came on the board along with him. Cinematographer Shailesh Awashthi, who previously worked with Dev for Challenge 2 (2012) and Rangbaaz (2013), was signed for the film, with MD. Kalam as the editor. Aejaz Gulab Shaikh, Sunil Rodrigues and Rajesh Kannan were roped to design the action sequences, whereas Bablu Singha handled the production designing. Shanker Master and Debraj Ghoshal were chosen for dance choreography. [53]
The film was announced by the makers on 1 January 2024 with a motion poster, which revealed the title of the film as Khadaan.[54][55][56] It also revealed the first look of Dev's character as Shyam Mahato in the film.[57][58] On 16 January 2024, Dev, along with his team including Soojit Dutta, went to recce at the Sonpur Bazari Coal mines in ECL Pandaveshwar,[59][60] accompanied by ECL officers, to consider the place as one of the shooting spots.[61][62] On that occasion, Dev also inaugurated his wax statue at the Asansol Wax Museum, organized by sculptor Sushanta Roy.[63][64]
Casting
Chanchal Chowdhury entered talks to play a pivotal role in the film,[65] supposed to be the antagonist. He refused due to time constraints. Post Chowdhury's exit, Mosharraf Karim, Jeetu Kamal[66] and Anirban Bhattacharya were reported to be proposed for that role in the film, but ultimately Jisshu Sengupta came on the board and was announced playing a Vaishnavite character of Dev's friend in the film in January 2024.[67][68][69] It marked Dev and Jisshu together in a film 8 years after Zulfiqar in 2016.[70][71][72] Jisshu, the captain of the team Bengal Tigers in the Celebrity Cricket League, conditioned to shoot only if he got leave to play, to which the makers agreed.[73][74][75] Later, Idhika Paul was announced as the film's lead actress,[76][77][78] and Soumitrisha Kundu was reported to be another lead actress of the film,[79][80] but it was proved to be a rumour when Barkha Bisht joined the cast for that role.[81][82] It marked pairing up between Dev and Barkha, 14 years after Dui Prithibi in 2010.[83][84][85] Anirban Chakrabarti was confirmed to play an important role in the film.[86] In February 2024, Sumit Ganguly,[87] Raja Dutta and Parthasarathi Chakraborty joined the cast, each of them reuniting with Dev after a few years.
Bonny Sengupta was approached for a pivotal role in the film,[88] but he rejected it,[89] because he didn't want to work in any dark or negative character,[90][91][92] also prefering to maintain his romantic hero image among the audience.[93] Then Vikram Chatterjee was considered for the role, who had to turn down due to other commitments. Later, Amartya Ray was offered the role,[94] but after he rejected it, John Bhattacharya joined the cast in March 2024, for the role.[95] In an interview to Aajkaal, Bhattacharya stated, "It is absolutely difficult to leave the opportunity of sharing screen with two acting giants, Dev da and Jisshu da".[96]
Filming
On 14 February 2024, on the eve of Saraswati Puja,[97] the Muhurat of the film was performed at the office of Surinder Films.[98][99] The makers planned to shoot the first schedule of the film in Kolkata in February 2024, after Dev would complete his commitments with Tekka (2024). The filming commenced on 16 February 2024 with a short schedule in Kolkata,[100][101] and also a revealation of the first look posters of Dev and Jisshu.[102][103][104] In an interview to the Anandabazar Patrika, the director informed about the difficulties of finding a suitable shooting spot in Kolkata.[105][106] On 25 February 2024, an action sequence was shot at the tram depot in Nonapukur, under the supervision of fight master Rajesh Kannan. On 27 February, the team was spotted in Shobhabazar, where a particular scene was filmed at Chhaya cinema hall. The first schedule of the film was completed on 1 March 2024.
From 4 March 2024, the second schedule commenced in the coal mines of Asansol, having major parts of the film been shot there, where Jisshu Sengupta joined the cast members.[107][108] In this schedule, a song was filmed for 4 days, with an inclusion of 2000 dancers.[109] The song was picturized on Dev and Idhika Paul[110] and was choreographed by D. Shankaraiyaa. An action sequence was shot in the timespace of 10 and 12 March 2024 in Durgapur. The remaining parts of this schedule, were filmed in the Asansol and Raniganj[111] coalfields where Dev had went earlier to recce, with some parts of the film being filmed Bankura.[112][113] A scene where Dev puts a burning cigar inside his mouth, was finally shot after he had injured his lips 55 times with hot flashes from the cigar, along with burning his tongue and beard, during the retakes.[114] A specific scene was filmed at the Randiha Barrage beside the Damodar River in Panagarh, where Dev and Jisshu met the fans who came to see the shooting.[115][116][117] On 13 March 2024, the makers uploaded second poster of the film, informing that the second schedule of the film had been completed.[118][119]
After the completion of Dev's commitments with the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the shooting resumed in July 2024 again in Asansol. For 3 days, the team shot in the rural environment at Nalban in Bidhannagar but had to shoot indoor on the fourth day due to heavy rains.[120] From 19 July to 22 July, a dance sequence was filmed portraying the Janmashtami festival. The song "Haye Re Biye" was shot in this schedule. The same month, an action sequences was shot at least 400 ft. deep in the coalmines of Jamuria for a week.[121] In August 2024, a massive underwater sequence was shot in the Damodar River. The remaining parts in the schedule were filmed across Durgapur, Asansol and Bankura.[118][122] During this schedule, on 28 September 2024, the song "Rajar Raja" was shot in Baranagar, also with a high octane action sequence. The song was filmed at the aforementioned place, constructing a special set of a village fair. Along with 200 dancers, Dev danced to this song on the sand in 42 degree scorching heat, under Shankaraiyaa's supervision. On 1 October 2024, the producers informed with a new poster that the filming has been completed and wrapped up.[123][124]
Post-production
Post-production for the film began in July 2024 and went on for four months as the film involves extensive computer graphics and VFX. The VFX work of the film was provided by Surinder Films VFX, where Tamal Roy served as the visual effects supervisor. Dibyo and Soumyo Roy were the sound designers. The first half of the film was edited by October 2024.
Barkha Bisht and Idhika Paul were reported to dub their parts in late-September 2024, while Dev and Jisshu Sengupta began dubbing their portions in October 2024.
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| Khadaan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Savvy, Rathijit Bhattyacharya and Nilayan Chatterjee | |||||
| Released | 2024 | ||||
| Recorded | 2023–24 | ||||
| Genre | Film soundtrack | ||||
| Length | 27:31 | ||||
| Language | Bengali | ||||
| Label | Surinder Films | ||||
| |||||
The music of the film has been composed by Rathijit Bhattyacharya, Savvy and Nilayan Chatterjee. The lyrics have been written by Nilayan Chatterjee himself in his compositions while Ritam Sen has penned the lyrics for Rathijit Bhattyacharya and Savvy.[125][126]
The first single "Rajar Raja" was released on 12 November 2024.[127][128] It marked Dev in a dance song after a decade of films including no dance numbers.[129][130] The second single "Haye Re Biye" was released on 22 November 2024.[131][132][133]The third single "Kishori" was released on 5 December 2024.[134][135] The fourth single "Baap Eseche" was released on 12 December 2024.[136] It served as a promotional track for the film.[137]
The remaining songs "Radharani", "Royal Fighter" , "Dhinak Na Tin" and "Phiraiyya Dao" along with the full audio jukebox was released on 18 December 2024, at the music launch event held at South City Mall.[138]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Rajar Raja" | Ritam Sen | Savvy | Dev Arijit | 3:15 |
| 2. | "Haye Re Biye" | Nilayan Chatterjee | Nilayan Chatterjee | Abhijeet Bhattacharya, June Banerjee, Sudip Nandy | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Kishori" | Ritam Sen | Rathijit Bhattacharya | Rathijit Bhattacharya, Antara Mitra | 3:26 |
| 4. | "Baap Eseche" | Nilayan Chatterjee | Nilayan Chatterjee | Ishan Mitra | 3:00 |
| 5. | "Radharani" | Ritam Sen | Rathijit Bhattacharjee | Arkadeep Mishra (Arka) | 3:58 |
| 6. | "Royal Fighter" | Ritam Sen | Rathijit Bhattacharjee | Bullet B-One | 3:14 |
| 7. | "Dhinak Na Tin" | Nilayan Chatterjee | Nilayan Chatterjee | Debosmita Deb | 3:03 |
| 8. | "Phiraiyya Dao" | Nilayan Chatterjee | Nilayan Chatterjee | Sohini Saha | 3:50 |
| Total length: | 27:31 | ||||
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The teaser was initially planned to release on 14 August 2024.[139][140] But it was postponed as a sign of solidarity with the then ongoing protests against the RG Kar rape and murder incident.[141][142] The teaser was finally dropped on 29 August 2024, 2 weeks after the initially scheduled date.[143][144][145] It was praised by eminent personalities like Srijit Mukherjee.[146][147]
On 30 Oct 2024, Dev was invited in the opening ceremony of a Kali Puja in Kalyani, where a short promotion was done. As a part of the ground level promotions at an event in Medinipur, Jisshu Sengupta dialed Dev and spoke out one of his prime dialogues from the movie in November 2024.[148][149][150] The same month, when the song "Rajar Raja" was unveiled.[151] The makers announced people to recreate the signature step by recording their own dance performances to the song and sharing these videos across social media platforms.[152]
Anirban Chakrabarti's character in the film was revealed with his first look poster on 18 November 2024.[153][154] Barkha Bisht's character from the film was revealed with a motion poster on 19 November 2024.[155] As a part of the marketing campaign, the makers launched official merchandise of the film. They included prime dialogues, catchy quotes, song names and title of the film printed on T-shirts.[156] This was the first time in many years that official merchandise has been launched for a Bengali film as a part of the promotions.[157] On 21 November 2024, Sneha Bose's character from the film was revealed with a motion poster.[158]
A song launch event was arranged by the makers at Flamboyant in Park Street,[159] where the song "Haye Re Biye" was launched.[160] In this event, Dev, Barkha Bisht and Sneha Bose were observed dancing to the beat of the song. Jisshu Sengupta was dialed by Dev and was asked if he would be a part of Shah Rukh Khan's upcoming film King (2025).[161] On 27 November 2024, the makers released a motion poster addressing Idhika Paul's character from the film. The same day, the makers announced people to create reels by grooving the hook step of "Haye Re Biye" and also revealed to win the Khadaan T-Shirts exclusively.
The makers declared "Khadaan Tour",[162] a massive strategy of promotion in several towns across West Bengal including Durgapur (at Junction Mall), Bardhaman (at Burdwan Town Hall), Howrah (at Bargachia Book Fair), Madhyamgram (at Star Mall), Malda (at Malda College), Raiganj (at Raiganj University), Kalyani (at PRM City Mall), Siliguri (Vega Circle Mall), Howrah (Amta Bakshi Ground), Barrackpore (Swami Vivekananda University) and Hooghly (Rishra Lenin Ground) on a Khadaan themed bus, featuring the characters in a giant poster all over the bus.[163][164] Another motion poster was released on 1 December 2024, which revealed the character of Raja Dutta from the film.[165] The second teaser titled "Pre-trailer"[166][167] was released on 2 December 2024,[168] by conducting a launching event at Miraj Cinemas in Salt Lake.[169][170]
After the promotions at Durgapur, Dev visited Tarapith Temple in Birbhum to seek blessings for the success of the film.[171][172] The event at Bardhaman created a lot of chaos as groups of excited fans broke the barricade and got up on the stage to meet the actors.[173] Similar unprecedented events took place during the Madhyamgram promotions due to failure of the event organisers as an unexpected number of people turned up for the event.[174] The police had to "lathi-charge" to disperse the enthusiastic crowd to avoid chances of any stampede and also to normalise the National Highway 12, which was completely blocked, creating difficulties for the vehicles and commuters.[175] Dev along with the cast and crew visited the Boro Maa Kali Temple in Naihati, to take her blessings for the success of the film.[176] On 17 December 2024, Sourav Ganguly and Jhulan Goswami along with other cricketers played a friendly cricket match with the cast and crew of "Khadaan" as a part of the promotions.[177][178]
Initially scheduled to release on 15 December 2024,[179] the trailer release was delayed due to technical issues.[180][181] The trailer was released on 18 December 2024.[182][183] The advance booking was started from 18 December 2024, just 2 days prior to the release.[184][185] Dev informed that they couldn't open the advance bookings because the distributors were struggling to get enough shows due to large number of screens given to Pushpa 2.[186][187] Dev mentioned on his X handle that, if there is any place where there are no theatres but the people want to watch the film, they makers will make the necessary arrangements for a temporary screening.[188][189] After the first weekend from release, Dev visited the Kalighat Temple in Kolkata to take blessings of Maa Kali.
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The film was released in the theatres on 20 December 2024 with 282 shows, on the eve of Christmas weekend.[190][191] With the first show for the film starting from 2 a.m. at "SVF Cinemas" in Raiganj,[192] Khadaan became the first Bengali film to keep a midnight show for the audience[193] and also became the first Bengali film to have a housefull show at midnight.[194][195]
Box office
The film collected around est. ₹1 crore on its opening day.[196] It marked one of the highest opening day gross of all time for an Indian Bengali film.[197]
Critical reception
Subhasmita Kanji of Hindustan Times rated the film 4.3 out 5 stars and opined "Khadaan is a paisa-vasool masala entertainer. Every frame speaks of the huge production value of the film, in which Dev's character aroused back the memories and nostalgia of his initial films." She praised Idhika's vibrant acting, Anirban's character, Rathijit and Nilayan's music and the storytelling but criticised the script for being predictable at certain points.[198]
Sandipta Bhanja of Sangbad Pratidin reviewed the film on a positive note and wrote "Dev is the heartstring of the film. His ostracized action hero avatar is a visual treat while his romantic avatar triggers back the nostalgia of his initial days." She praised Jisshu and Idhika's acting, John's debut performance, Anirban's tribal accent and Dev's comeback to commercial genre after a decade but criticized the twists for being somewhat predictable.[33]
Anurupa Chakraborty of the Indian Express rated the film 3.5/5 stars and highlighted "Khadaan is a commercial entertainer with high octane action, romance and songs. The chemistry between Dev and Jisshu drives the film." She speacially praised Jisshu's performance in the film, the BGM, John's short cameo and Dev's comeback in mass avatar after many years but mentioned that the story could have been written better.[199]
Agnivo Niyogi of The Telegraph reviewed the film and noted "The synergy between Shyam and Mohan anchors the film and helps this otherwise straightforward story sail through." He criticised weakly written characters for Idhika and Barkha but specially praised the soundtrack and picturisation on the kirtan track "Radharani".[200]
Poorna Banerjee of The Times of India rated the film 3 out of 5 stars and quoted "Khadaan thrives on Dev’s commanding presence and a lot of action sequences that are well shot. For fans of action dramas and larger-than-life protagonists, this might just hit the mark." She praised the cinematography, editing, music and high octane action sequences but mentioned Idhika's role to be unimpressive.[201]
A reviewer from ETV Bharat noted "Khadaan is a full masala entertainer that brought Dev back to his old avatar, characterised by heavy action scenes and romantic sequences." Although Jisshu's seasoned acting, Anirban' character, John's debut, Idhika's performance and chemistry with Dev was praised, it was stated that the screenplay could have been better.[202]
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The ending of the film hints towards a sequel.[203] But, in an interview, Dev mentioned that Khadaan 2 will be made depending upon the reception of Khadaan and only if the maiden part becomes commercially successful.[204]
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