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 film's cinematography was done by Sheikh Rajibul Islam with editing done by Simit Ray Antor and choreography handle by Adil Sheikh and Ashok Raja, with action directed by Rajesh Kannan. Its soundtrack was composed by Akassh, Prince Mahmud, Emon Chowdhury, Sajid Sarker and Joel Van Dijk while background music was done by Emon Saha.
The film is Khan's 249th film.The filming 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 reaction from critics.
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.
Plot The story starts in a small village in Bangladesh. Shamsur, who everyone calls Rajkumar, is a simple, dreamy young man. He is not like others — since childhood he has only one dream, to go to America. But he doesn't want to go to America for money or a job. He has a deep, painful reason.
His mother Khadija Begum left him when he was a child and went to America. His father never tells him the truth and always stops him from going, threatening to disown him. Rajkumar tries to get a US visa legally, but he fails the interview at the American Embassy 17 times. Everyone in the village laughs at him.
Desperate, a local broker tells him there is only one other way — you have to marry an American citizen. Through the broker, he meets Julie, an American woman. They do a contract marriage, and with her help, he finally lands in New York.
But in America, his real struggle starts. He doesn't know the language well, faces immigration problems, cultural shock, racism, and loneliness. Julie initially is just a contract wife, but slowly she starts to fall in love with this innocent village boy because of his honesty. Rajkumar also develops a friendship with her, but his heart is fixed on one mission.
That mission is — finding his mother Khadija Begum. He searches every street in New York, shows her old photo to everyone, goes from one Bangladeshi community to another. After a long, painful search, he finally finds her address.
The biggest twist comes there. When he finds his mother, he sees she has a new family in America, she is old and sick, and she had left Bangladesh due to extreme poverty and helplessness, not because she didn't love him. The meeting is extremely emotional — she can't believe her son crossed half the world after 30 years to find her.
The film ends tragically. Just after their reunion, his mother dies in his arms, leaving him completely shattered. He came to America to find his mother, and after finding her, he loses her forever. He realizes his whole journey, his dream, his love for Julie — everything changed his life forever. He returns to Bangladesh not as a failed visa applicant, but as a man who completed his life's purpose.
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 Tanisa Islam Mahi DJ Shohel - Khaled Anwar Hossain Jadu Azad
Production 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 Sheikh Rajibul Islam, 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 ৳6 crores.
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 would 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 10 lakhs, 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.
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