Not Selim or Jhantu, ‘Operation Jackpot’ goes to Indian filmmaker!

The much-anticipated film "Operation Jackpot", based on the alliance of Bangladeshi naval commandos that turned the tide of the Liberation War, is finally scheduled to begin shooting on November 20.

Confirming the news, Indian filmmaker Rajib Kumar Biswas said, "I have been traveling to different locations of Dhaka, Gazipur, Mongla, Narayanganj and Chattogram to find suitable shooting spots for the historical film for the past two months."

"Discussions are ongoing to cast popular Bangladeshi actor Ananta Jalil in the lead role. If everything goes well, we will make an official announcement on December 1 and begin shooting as soon as possible," stated the director.

"We have also approached other Bangladeshi actors like Riaz Ahmed, Bappy Chowdhury, Symon Sadik, Nirab Hossain, Mamnun Hasan Emon, Abdun Noor Shajal, Siam Ahmed, Ziaul Roshan and Joy Chowdhury. They all agreed to work on this film; however, we have yet to officially sign agreements with Riaz, Roshan, and Nirab," Rajib added.

"We are considering approaching top Indian actresses for this project. I am planning to onboard Swastika Mukherjee for a lead role, while I would like Sayantika Banerjee to perform in an item song for this movie," hoped Rajib.

"This film is based on the Liberation War, so it would not be a romantic film, but I am trying to adequately portray the families of the war heroes, and that's why I am considering casting the best actors from the two Bengals," explained Rajib.

Rajib also said he is planning to shoot the film for 70 days till February, and if everything runs as per the plan then he hopes to release the film on March 26.

Confirming his inclusion in this film, Ananta Jalil said, "Yes, I am starring in this film. However, I am busy with some professional engagements, so I will talk about the film later."

On the other hand, popular actor Siam Ahmed denied the claim of being cast in this movie through a post on his verified Facebook account. He said, "Well, Rajibda wanted to have a meeting with me about the film, but we couldn't do that because of scheduling issues. Afterward, the producer of the film also approached me, and I decided not to be in this film."

"I was straightforward from the very beginning. I don't know how my name got included in the casting list of the movie and why the media is using my name in the reports related to the film. I think they should have cross-checked the validity of it first," Siam further wrote in his post.

In March 2017, the Chattogram port authorities took on a project to make a film depicting the operations. Gias Uddin Selim, of "Monpura", was chosen to direct the film at the time. However, the project was handed over to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs two years ago. After that, a new tender process was initiated, where Kibria Films was selected as the production company without much explanation, amid controversies. Kibria Films, in turn decided to take on Delwar Jahan Jhantu as the director.

In response to the film being made under a new production team and director (Indian filmmaker Rajib Kumar Biswas), Delwar Jahan Jhantu said, "I have no knowledge of anything regarding the film. I will talk to the producers about it." Jhantu thus declined to comment further.

Originally, "Operation Jackpot" was an initiative run by the Bengali naval commandos during the Liberation War of 1971.