Dhallywood 2026: Bangladesh's Biggest Movies, Rising Stars, and a Film Industry Finding Its Footing
Dhallywood — Bangladesh's home-grown film industry, named after Dhaka and Hollywood — is entering 2026 with more ambition than it has shown in years. After a decade of declining cinema halls, shrinking audiences, and the relentless pressure of streaming platforms, the industry is staging a comeback powered by bigger budgets, bolder storytelling, and a generation of actors who are redefining what a Bangladeshi blockbuster can look like.
The numbers are starting to back up the optimism. In 2024, Shakib Khan's crime thriller Toofan became the highest-grossing Bangladeshi film at the time, earning over BDT 35 crore domestically and more than BDT 21 crore internationally. Then in mid-2025, the Indo-Bangla co-production Borbaad shattered that record with a collection of approximately BDT 83 crore — rewriting every benchmark Dhallywood had previously known. Going into 2026, the industry is chasing that momentum hard.
For context, this article covers both completed 2025 releases that shaped the current landscape and the most anticipated titles of Eid-ul-Fitr 2026 — the biggest movie season on the Bangladeshi calendar. fr24news is a WinTK Official publication.
Eid 2026: The Most Crowded Release Slate in Years
Eid-ul-Fitr is to Dhallywood what summer is to Hollywood: the season when studios roll the dice on their biggest bets, cinema halls fill beyond capacity, and careers are made or broken over a single long weekend. In 2026, the Eid slate may be the most competitive in the industry's recent memory, with as many as 16 films reportedly eyeing release around the same window.
That ambition runs directly into a structural problem: Bangladesh has been losing cinema halls steadily for years. Where there were once over a thousand screens across the country, the number of operational halls today is a fraction of that. Distributing 16 films into a limited screen count inevitably means some will get squeezed out — or receive far fewer shows than their producers had hoped. The tension between a growing appetite for Bangladeshi content and the shrinking infrastructure to deliver it sits at the heart of Dhallywood's 2026 story.
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Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka — The Year's Most Anticipated Film
No film heading into Eid 2026 carries more commercial weight than Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka. The film stars Shakib Khan — Dhallywood's undisputed box office king for over two decades — in the role of a 1990s Dhaka gangster. The motion poster, released in February 2026, introduced Shakib in a full beard, long hair, sunglasses and a flowing black coat, holding a uniquely designed weapon while facing down a helicopter. The production house Creative Land Films announced the image with the line: "He doesn't chase power; power follows him." The response online was immediate and electric.
Directed by debut filmmaker Abu Hayat Mahmud and produced by Shirin Sultana under Creative Land, Prince carries a reported budget of around BDT 20 crore — one of the largest production budgets in Dhallywood history. The film stars Tasnia Farin opposite Shakib Khan, with Indian actress Jyotirmoyee Kundu also in a key role. Filming wrapped in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and post-production was completed ahead of the Eid window. For Mahmud, this is his directorial debut — a fact he described publicly as releasing "my first child." The pressure of a first film backed by Shakib Khan and BDT 20 crore is pressure of a very particular kind.
Shakib Khan himself has said the city will "tremble" when Prince arrives. Given what Borbaad did to the record books in 2025, that claim is harder to dismiss than it might once have been.
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Domm — Afran Nisho Takes on Survival
The most credible rival to Prince this Eid is Domm, directed by Redoan Rony and starring Afran Nisho alongside Chanchal Chowdhury and Puja Chery. The film is inspired by real events and built around a survival narrative — a genre that Dhallywood has rarely explored with serious intent. Much of the production was shot in Kazakhstan, giving the film a visual scale that immediately sets it apart from most domestic releases.
Afran Nisho is one of the most interesting figures in contemporary Bangladeshi entertainment. He built his following primarily through television drama before crossing over to film, and last Eid his pairing against Shakib Khan in Surongo generated genuine competitive heat at the box office. Domm represents his attempt to carry a film on his own terms, with an international shooting location and a story that does not depend on Shakib Khan's presence to generate interest.
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Rakkhosh — Siam Ahmed Returns with Action from Sri Lanka
Rakkhosh, directed by Mehedi Hasan Hridoy, stars Siam Ahmed in what the director describes as a "new avatar" for the actor. The film is primarily an action production, shot across Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with Indian actress Susmita Chatterjee as the female lead. Siam Ahmed had a strong Eid showing in 2025 with Jongli and is now looking to build on that momentum with something more physically intense.
The presence of Indian actresses across multiple Eid 2026 releases — Jyotirmoyee Kundu in Prince, Susmita Chatterjee in Rakkhosh — reflects a broader trend of cross-border casting that has accelerated since Borbaad's success. Bangladeshi producers are increasingly comfortable with Indo-Bangla co-productions, and audiences appear to welcome them.
Bonolota Express — Humayun Ahmed Comes to the Big Screen
Among the more culturally significant entries this Eid is Bonolota Express, directed by Tanim Noor and starring Shariful Razz alongside Mosharraf Karim, Chanchal Chowdhury, and Shamol Mawla. The film is based on Kichhukkhon, a novel by the beloved late writer Humayun Ahmed, with Sabila Nur playing the character Chitra. It marks Sabila Nur's first leading role in a Humayun Ahmed adaptation — a milestone that carries real cultural weight for a certain segment of the Bangladeshi audience.
Shariful Razz has emerged in recent years as one of Dhallywood's most reliable performers outside the Shakib Khan orbit. Humayun Ahmed adaptations carry built-in emotional loyalty from Bangladeshi audiences, and Bonolota Express is being positioned as the sentimental alternative for viewers who want something beyond pure action spectacle.
Malik, Durbar, Tribunal, and Pressure Cooker
Malik, directed by Saif Chandan and starring Arifin Shuvoo alongside Bidya Sinha Mim, adds another action film to the Eid slate. Arifin Shuvoo reportedly suffered a serious accident involving fire during production but has remained publicly committed to the release. The production's persistence in the face of that setback has become part of its pre-release story.
Durbar marks a significant moment for television actor Shajal, who is making the leap to cinema in a leading role opposite Apu Biswas — a pairing that had never happened before. Director Kamrul Hasan Fuad has described it as an action film with "surprises and new ideas." Meanwhile, Tribunal, directed by Raihan Khan, stars Ador Azad — another small-screen talent testing the theatrical waters.
Perhaps the most quietly anticipated release is Pressure Cooker, the latest film from director Raihan Rafi — the man behind Toofan, which held the domestic box office record until Borbaad came along. Unlike his previous blockbusters, Pressure Cooker centres on female protagonists: Shobnom Bubly and Nazifa Tushi lead, with Mariya Shanto and Snigdha Chowdhury in supporting roles. A Raihan Rafi film with a women-led cast is a meaningful departure, and it will be closely watched.
The Stars Reshaping Dhallywood
Shakib Khan remains the industry's gravitational centre. His films have collectively earned hundreds of crore taka over two decades, and his Eid releases function almost like national events. The record set by Borbaad in 2025 — BDT 83 crore — is a number that Dhallywood had never seen before. Whether Prince can match or exceed it will define much of the industry conversation for the rest of 2026.
Afran Nisho is the figure most often named as the industry's next tier of star power. His television background gave him a loyal emotional fanbase before he ever appeared on a cinema screen, and his careful selection of film projects suggests someone managing a transition with strategic patience.
Chanchal Chowdhury continues to be Dhallywood's most versatile working actor — appearing in Domm and Bonolota Express simultaneously this Eid, in very different tonal registers. He has the rare ability to anchor a comedy, carry an action sequence, and deliver dramatic weight within the same production season.
Shariful Razz has built a quiet but consistent cinema career that does not depend on franchise logic or star-system shortcuts. His performances in Daagi and Omar in 2024 were noted for their restraint in a genre that rarely rewards it.
Siam Ahmed and Arifin Shuvoo represent the generation that came of age with a different kind of Bangladeshi cinema — one that took international shooting locations and production values for granted in a way their predecessors could not. Both are now established enough to carry a film without needing Shakib Khan's name on the poster.
On the female side, Tasnia Farin, Shobnom Bubly, Puja Chery, and Sabila Nur are all receiving prominent Eid placements in 2026 — a sign that producers are increasingly willing to give their leading ladies more than decorative roles.
What Borbaad Changed — and What It Didn't
The BDT 83 crore collected by Borbaad in 2025 is not just a box office number. It is proof that Bangladeshi audiences will pay to watch Bangladeshi cinema in large numbers if the product is good enough. For years, the dominant narrative was that OTT platforms and piracy had permanently broken the cinema-going habit. Borbaad — and Toofan before it — suggested otherwise.
What those films did not change is the cinema hall infrastructure problem. Bangladesh needs more operational screens, better projection technology, and more comfortable venues before it can fully capitalise on the audience appetite that its top films have demonstrated. The 16-film Eid 2026 slate is a vote of confidence in the audience. Whether the infrastructure is ready to honour that confidence is a separate question entirely.
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