Director surprises by production costs of film ‘Mujib Bhai’, series ‘Khoka’

Entertainment Report :

During the Awami League government, the animation movie ‘Mujib Bhai’ and series ‘Khoka’ were made from the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Department’s mobile game and application skills development project on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

News has been published in various media outlets, according to the published white paper, the establishment of Russell Digital Lab and the production of the Mujib Bhai movie through CRI cost Tk 4,211.22 crore, and the production of ‘Khoka’ series cost Tk 16 crore from the state treasury.

The news of such expenditure on the production of the movie has shocked those concerned. Sohel Mohammad Rana, director of the film and series, was also surprised by the news.

When contacted to inquire about the production cost, ‘Mujib Bhai’ and ‘Khoka’ director Sohel Rana expressed surprise.

He said that he was only involved in these two projects as a director. He had no idea about the budget.

He only took the honorarium as a director as per the contract. Director Rana said, “‘Mujib Bhai’ was made under the supervision of Technomagic Private Ltd and Hyper Tag Ltd.

I was asked to join as a team director there. That too six months after the film’s production started. When there were complications related to the production, they contacted me.

At that time, a contract was signed with me to direct the film for a fee of Tk 10 lakh. I joined this project as a team director a year before the film’s release.

The entire work was done in their studio. I only used to review.” Regarding the budget of the film, director said, “I was surprised to see the news related to the budget of the film.

Considering the technology, team and time that an animation film requires, I thought that the cost of making this film should not exceed Tk 5 crores.

However, the report also mentioned the establishment of Sheikh Russell Digital Lab and a few other projects. I don’t know how much was spent on those sectors.

Apart from that, I don’t know how much was spent on animation. I only directed the film in exchange for remuneration.”

Regarding the budget of the ‘Khoka’ series, director said, “It is difficult to say the budget of a movie. Many things are involved in it. When you work with experienced people, there is one kind of budget.

If you work with newcomers after conducting workshops, the budget will be different. They have done many workshops to make this series.

After completing various criteria, they started production. Since I was not involved in the beginning, I have no idea about the budget of those workshops or work.

There was also a lab with this project. But as a producer, I think it would have cost more to make it than ‘Mujib Bhai’. It had 11 episodes.

Again, all the episodes were combined and a movie was made from them. On average, the cost of this series could be Tk 6 to 7 crore.”