Rajkumar (2024 film)

Rajkumar is a 2024 Bangladeshi romance drama film directed by Himel Ashraf and produced by Arshad Adnan under the banner of his Versatile Media. The film revolves around the story of love, family relationships and a dreamy young man's journey from Bangladesh to America featuring Shakib Khan along with Courtney Coffey (in her Bangladeshi debut) in the lead roles. It is the second collaboration between Shakib Khan, Himel Ashraf and Arshad Adnan trio after success of Priyotoma (2023).

The principal photography of the film was commenced on December 12, 2023, with filming taking place in Dhaka, Pabna, Kushtia, Manikganj, Tangail, Gazipur and Rangamati in Bangladesh, Chennai in India and also 18 day in New York City. The films cinematography by Sheikh Rajibul Islam with editing was by Simit Ray Antor and choreography handle by Adil Sheikh and Ashok Raja, with action directed by Rajesh Kannan. It's soundtrack composed by Akassh, Prince Mahmud, Emon Chowdhury, Sajid Sarker and Joel Van Dijk while background music by Emon Saha.

The film is Khan's 249th film. The film grossed against a budget of  and became a super hit. The film wrapped up on March 1, 2024 with a climax scene featuring Shakib Khan and Mahiya Mahi in Sajek Valley, Rangamati. The film was theatrically released on 11 April 2024, coinciding with Eid al-Fitr, which was met with mixed to positive reviews. Rajkumar is one of the highest grossing Bangladeshi films and one of the highest grossing Bangladeshi films of 2024.

Synopsis
The film follows the journey of a determined young man from a rural village in Bangladesh to the bustling streets of the US in search of his long-lost mother. Along the way, he navigates immigration hurdles, cultural differences, personal challenges, and unexpected encounters. The profound impact of his search leaves an indelible mark and shatters his life forever.

Cast

 * Shakib Khan as Shamsul "Sam" Haque / Rajkumar
 * Courtney Coffey as Julie
 * Tariq Anam Khan as Abdul Goni Miah, Sam's father
 * Arosh Khan as young Abdul Goni Miah
 * Mahiya Mahi as Musammad Khadija Begum, Sam's mother (special appearance)
 * Dilara Zaman as Musammad Rahima Khatun, Sam's grandmother
 * Ejajul Islam as Signal Bhai, an expatriate Bangladeshi, who helped Sam move to United States
 * Ahmed Sharif as Khabir Uddin, a freedom fighter of Bangladesh's independence war, who lives permanently in the United States
 * Arfan Mredha Shiblu
 * Saddam Maal
 * DJ Shohel - Khaled
 * Anwar Hossain
 * Jadu Azad

Development
The director of the film Himel Ashraf has also written the story and screenplay of Rajkumar. He wrote the story of the film during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in the United States in 2020. He said that the story came to his mind when he went to United States in 2018, although he did not write it at that time. Then the whole time he stayed with the story of Rajkumar cinema. The director of photography in the film is Rajibul Islam Rajib, who previously worked in No Bed of Roses (2017). Emon Chowdhury also worked as a music director. Quoting sources close to the film, Samakal confirmed that the film has been made with a budget more than ৳8 crore.

Pre-production
On November 14, 2017, at the 16th Channel i Music Awards held in New York City, the protagonist of the film Shakib Khan announced a new film from his own production company SK Films. He said that it will be directed by Himel Ashraf. Although the name of the film was not finalized at that time. Shakib Khan said, we have planned to made a big film here (US) for our Bangladeshi cinema industry with domestic and foreign technicians, artists. And had it not been for covid, it would have been shot for so long and released here. On the announcement of the film, director Himel Ashraf told Channel i Online, the story and screenplay of this new movie is mine. 70% of the movie will be shot in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City and Hollywood sometime next year (2022). The rest of the shooting will be in Bangladesh. Then on March 28, 2022, the film's Maharat was held in World's Fair Marina, Queens, New York. The film's name and the actress' name were announced in Maharat. The film is titled Rajkumar were taken and American actress Courtney Coffey has been announced as the lead actress of the film. The film will be co-produced by Shakib Khan with Zakaria Masood and Kazi Riton, will be produced under Shakib Khan's SK Films banner, confirmed at the event. Shakib Khan said in the event that not only Bangladesh, "Rajkumar" will be released in different countries of the world including US, London, Middle East, Canada, India. Prothom Alo quoting the director Himel Ashraf's source, said that the filming of Rajkumar will be begin in July 2022. The film's protagonist Shakib Khan was supposed to come to Dhaka on April 25, 2022 to participate in the filming, but in the end he did not come. Later he came to Bangladesh on 17th August on the year. After the massive success of Priyotoma (2023), produced by Arshad Adnan, in an interview with Channel i, director Himel Ashraf confirmed that Arshad Adnan will also produce Rajkumar. Later, Courtney Coffey came to Dhaka on December 9, 2023 to participate in the filming. Then on December 10, they participated in a photoshoot during Bangladesh President Mohammed Shahabuddin's 74th birthday event.

Casting
86 actresses expressed interest to be the lead actress of Rajkumar. Courtney Coffey said at the event of Maharat of this film, "I am grateful to be associated with this work. The movie is going to be a very beautiful story." She is learning Bengali language for the film, which she also confirmed by her Facebook post. In this regard the director said that as in the script Courtney Coffey in movie cannot speak fluent in Bengali language where she has mastered it well as per script required. Her seriousness is impressive. Veteran actor Tariq Anam Khan played the role of Shakib Khan's father in the film. The extent of Tariq Anam Khan's character in the film is about 15 minutes, which he confirmed in a press conference. Famous actress Mahiya Mahi was rumored to play Shakib Khan's mother in the film, which was later confirmed by The Daily Star. She participated in the final lot at Sajek Valley in Rangamati.

Filming
The film's shooting began on December 12, 2023 at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation, Dhaka with Shakib Khan and Courtney Coffey, with filming later in Pabna and then the United States. It has been reported that Rajkumar is being made based on the story of love, family relationships and a dreamy young man moving from Bangladesh to America. After filming of two small lots in Gazipur and Manikganj of Dhaka till December 14, actress Courtney Coffey returned to the United States on December 15. Then on December 18, the work of the second lot of the film started in Pabna. Director Himel Ashraf confirmed that the filming of the second lot will continue for 9 consecutive days in Pabna. In early January, Channel i reported that 30 percent shooting of the film has already been completed in the country. And by the end of this month, the remaining 70 percent will be shot at different locations in the US.

A song titled "Swapan Desher Swapan Noy Re" of the film was shot from January 30 to February 1, 2024 at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation, where a total of 300 dance artistes worked. It is choreographed by India's Ashok Raja, who has worked with Shakib Khan before. A three-minute fight sequence of the film cost around BDT70 lakh, in which American and Russian artists worked. On February 3, 2024, the entire unit of the film went to the United States to participate in the filming of the final lot. Earlier, the fighting sequences were shot in Chennai, India. After a day's rest, the entire unit started shooting on February 5. On February 28, Shakib Khan and other crew members of the film returned to the country after filming for eighteen consecutive days in the United States. On the same day, he went to Sajek Valley, Rangamati to participate final lot of the filming, where some post-production work will be done, including patch work. After two days of filming of final lot in Sajek Valley, the film wrapped on March 1, 2024.

Soundtrack
In January 2024, the director confirmed with Channel i that Emon Chowdhury had joined as music director, who reportedly composed the a track "Ami Ekai Rajkumar" penned by Ferari Forhad, which was shot in early-February 2024. The film's title track "Rajkumar" was released on March 28, 2024. The song is a duet sung by Balam and Somnur Monir Konal and composed by Akassh Sen with penned by Asif Iqbal, the four previously worked in the 2023 film Priyotoma. It is choreographed by renowned Indian dance director Adil Sheikh. The film's much anticipate second singles "Borbaad" was released April 2, 2024, which received massive response among the audience. The song is composed and penned by Prince Mahmud with voiced by debutant Alif. After the massive popularity and critical acclaimed of "Eshwar" from Priyotoma (2023), it is the second collaboration between Prince Mahmud and Himel Ashraf. Prince Mahmud told Bangla Tribune that he has tried to create a match of this period with the 90's in the lyrics and melody. Than third singles "Ami Ekai Rajkumar" was released on April 5 as the film's theme song, which sung by Shamim Hasan and composed by Emon Chowdhury with lyrics penned by Ferari Forhad. The song was filming in January, 2024 at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation with an approximately 300 dance-artistes have actively participated in the song's shooting, which choreographed by Ashok Raja and costume designed Farah Diba, which was dedicated to Khan fan-base Shakibian. The song was faced wide criticism for its lyrics, choreography, costumes, inconsistency of the actors lip-syncing with the song, eventually the director regretted the song. Zahid Akbar penned a song titled "Nishana" in the film, with Sajid Sarker composition, which his third consecutive collaboration with Shakib Khan.

Marketing
The announcement poster of the film was revealed on March 29 2022. The first look poster of the film was revealed on March 24, 2024.

Release
The film was screened at the Bangladesh Film Censor Board on April 3 and received an uncut clearance with 145 minutes the following day. The film was released in 127 theaters nationwide on April 11, 2024 on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr 2024.

The film was released in 75 theaters across 31 states in the United States and Canada on April 19, 2024. However, it was released through Cinemark theaters in some notable locations like Los Angeles, the Bay area and Connecticut on April 26. It was initially slated to release in the United Arab Emirates on April 19, 2024 along with United States and Canada. But due to the terrible flood situation in Dubai, the censor show of the film was canceled twice. The film was later released in the Middle East on May 2, 2024.

Pre-bookings
On April 1, 2024, the advance ticket sale started 10 days before the film's release at Roots Cineclub in Sirajganj. Raj Cinema Hall of Kuliarchar, Kishoreganj and Borsha Cinema Hall, Gazipur took the booking of the film for BDT10 lakh, which is the highest booking record in the history of Bengali cinema. Besides, the film has been booked in the 22 largest single screens of the country for an amount of BDT8 lakh to a maximum of BDT12 lakh. Himel Ashraf confirmed that the film is given in minimum guarantee (MG) in most of theaters. It was reported that, the film released in record number of rentals in almost 125 theaters out of 210 theaters. It has earned a record several crores (approx. 6-6.5 crores) of booking money (table collection).

Distribution
The film was released in the US, Canada and the Middle East under the distribution of Swapna Scarecrow Bangladesh, which released Priyotoma by the same director last year.

Audience
On April 9, the Multiplex authorities released advance tickets for all Eid films including Rajkumar, due to audience demand. With tickets sold for the first two days of the film's release at Star Cineplex, the country's most prominent theatre, expectations of a grand reception for the film are palpable. All the tickets for the film was sold out at Star Cineplex within a few hours of online ticket release. Apart from this, almost all the tickets of Rajkumar's shows are sold out on the first and second day of Eid in Bashundhara City, Dhanmondi, Mirpur, Chittagong, Rajshahi branches of Cineplex. The films gets 13 shows at the Star Cineplex, which the second highest number shows after Mishuk Moni's Deyale Desh. Later, 1 new show was added at Cineplex's Sony, 2 at Bangabandhu Museum and 1 new show at Rajshahi branch due to the demands of the audience. It's tickets are almost sold out in advance at Bashundhara and Sony branches on April 13. Also, 70 percent advance tickets have been sold at all of branches of Cineplex on April 14, the day of Pohela Boishakh. Apart from multiplexes, the film also dominated single screens in almost all the theatres of the country including Modhumita in Dhaka, Kuliarchar in Kishoreganj, Chittagong Sadar, Dinajpur on the day of Eid. On the first day of its release, the film received the expected response from the audience, with every show being a house full.

Critical response
Maruf Emon on Bengali Movie Database gives the film a 4/5 rating. He praises the actors' performances, cinematography, and the climax scene. However, he criticizes the excessive background music and the slow screenplay. In another review on the Bengali Movie Database, Fahim Muntasir rated the film a rating of 7 out of 10. He praised the story, screenplay, dialogue, and direction, particularly highlighting the climax scene. However, he criticized the makeup, soundtrack, and action sequences. Syed Nazmus Sakib mentioned in Desh Rupantor that the story of the film Rajkumar is remarkable. Along with the cinematography of the film, he also praised Khan's performance. He wrote, "With comic timing, subtle expressions, and a wonderfully controlled performance in emotional scenes, Shakib Khan was not just Shakib Khan here; he truly became Sam." However, he criticized the action choreography and makeup, and also noted the excessive use of the background score. The author, journalist, and poet Ahsan Kabir has rated the film 5 out of 10. He described it as a thought-provoking movie, acknowledging Shakib Khan's acting prowess. However, he noted that despite the commercial elements in the film, its narrative is not entirely modern. Filmmaker Sanjoy Somadder described to the film Rajkumar as larger than life. He praised its cinematography, dialogues, and supporting characters. He also particularly louded Shakib Khan's performance, considering arguably his best performance to date. He described Khan's acting in the climax scene as poetic. In a review featured in Kaler Kantho, Hridoy Ahmed lauded the film as a captivating and socially resonant piece. He commended its narrative depth, performances, dialogue delivery, cinematography, and evocative musical score. However, he also offered constructive criticism regarding the soundtrack, editing, and action sequences.

Impact
It was ranked first among the upcoming film (including non-Bangladeshi films) in an audience poll a survey by the Star Cineplex.