No one will feel that their money’s wasted, after watching Din - The Day: Ananta Jalil

After an eight-year hiatus, Ananta Jalil's new film 'Din - The Day' will officially herald his return to the big screen this Eid. Long time co-star and wife Barsha stars opposite him as co-lead on the film that has the distinction of being a joint collaboration with the country of Iran.

Principal photography took place in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan and Bangladesh and was directed by Iranian producer Murtaza Otash Jamjam. Ananta Jalil and Barsha sat with The Business Standard a few days ago to discuss various issues including the adventures they had during the filming of their new movie.

The actor started off by saying, "This film has been a long time coming and is an Eid gift to my fanbase. Even though we have been absent from feature films, my wife and I have been working on various projects including television. We're always active on social media so I don't necessarily think the audience missed us. However, we are returning to the screen with a bang this Eid."

Philosophising about the title of the movie, Ananta points out that it reflects the continuity of life. Many events happen in a person's life day after day, and it is never the end. Hence, the name 'Din - The Day'.

We asked the Dhallywood couple to give the audience three reasons to watch 'Din - The Day'.

Jalil said, "I can state at least 10 reasons to watch it. For now, I will share five. Firstly, I don't know if there will ever be a movie called 'Din - The Day' in the future, an unarguable point. But if there's one I'll be happy. Secondly, co-producing this film with the government of Iran was no easy feat, none of my countrymen had even dreamed of such a thing. Thirdly, we are in this movie! Along with an Iranian director, and other great artists. Fourthly, this is the first time a Bangla movie has been shot in 4K resolution. Lastly, this will be the first time in Bangladesh that a cinema will be released on Dolby Atmosphere. I can honestly keep going, there are a lot more reasons why this movie would be worth your while."

Barsha dutifully chimed in saying, "I hope people will watch this movie because it has Ananta Jalil in it. No one can make such a clean, eloquent and powerful movie except Ananta Jalil."

Ananta revealed that Din - The Day had a budget of roughly Tk100 crore. However, the majority of the funding was contributed by the Iranian producer. The Iranian government's resources were extensively used in the making of this film.

In Afghanistan, he climbed on a camel's back and fell while shooting, which caused Ananta Jalil to suffer an injury. Recalling the incident, he said, "It was difficult for me to shoot many scenes." He had to shoot on a speedboat in the extreme cold of Istanbul. 

Regarding her filming experience, Barsha said, "I've been shooting for this movie since I gave birth. The character is interesting and I have acted in several action scenes in the film as well. This is a very new experience for me."

Ananta Jalil has always preferred action and realistic films. He is not a big fan of romantic movies. He said,  "I am a realist. So I don't like movies full of romantic cliches. I don't know how a movie can be all about love. The audience will get a lot of action in Din - The Day."

He added, "After watching many scenes of the film, audiences might feel that we used CGI, when in fact it was done on set. Those scenes, in particular, were risky for the whole team, including myself, but we never baulked at the challenge"

For our parting question, we asked the movie star how he came to work with Iranian artists.

Ananta said, "When Rohingyas came to Bangladesh, an Iranian documentary crew came to shoot a documentary about the refugee crisis. That documentary was submitted to several festivals where it received a lot of recognition. My introduction was through the Iranian Embassy. The Cultural Consular of Iran contacted me. They watched one of my movies and then invited us to Iran, which is when we got around to discussing a collaboration which resulted in this movie.

The power couple Ananta-Barsha believes the film will be exceptional for all the aforementioned reasons and beyond. He said, "No one will feel that their money's wasted, after watching Din-The Day. Rather that person will be ecstatic to see it and then will tell ten more people to go to the theatres."