Bangladesh’s film and entertainment industry — commonly known as Dhallywood — has had a genuinely eventful few weeks, from a megastar’s surprise new project to a five-year-old scandal suddenly making fresh headlines. Here’s a full breakdown of what’s actually driving conversation in Bangladeshi entertainment right now.
Shakib Khan Reunites With His “Borbaad” Team for a New Film
Dhallywood’s biggest name, Shakib Khan, signed on to a new project on July 2, 2026, under the banner of Real Energy Production. The film reunites him with director Mehedi Hassan and the same production house behind his hit film Borbaad — though the studio has been clear this new project is not a sequel. The title hasn’t been announced yet, but the signing alone generated real buzz: Shakib’s own announcement post reportedly drew more than 35,000 reactions and over 2,000 comments within the first hour, captioned simply, “The ‘Borbaad’ team is returning. Let’s make history once again.”
This comes on the heels of a genuinely strong year for Shakib at the box office. His Eid release Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka — a stylized action film built around Dhaka’s cityscape and Shakib’s signature long-haired look — became one of 2026’s most-discussed Bangladeshi releases, ranking among the year’s top-grossing Dhallywood films alongside Bonolota Express and Domm: Until the Last Breath.
Pori Moni’s 2021 Scandal Is Back in the News — Here’s Why
One of the biggest resurfacing stories in Bangladeshi entertainment this year involves actress Pori Moni and a controversy that first broke back in 2021. In June 2026, the Bangladesh Ministry of Home Affairs formally confirmed that Md Golam Saklain, a former Detective Branch police official, would be sent into compulsory retirement over what investigators concluded was an inappropriate relationship with the actress during a period when he was overseeing a case connected to her.
The story instantly reignited public conversation that had gone quiet for years. Pori Moni addressed it directly, describing Saklain as talented and saying she felt the situation had been unfair to him — comments that immediately went viral in Bangladeshi media given how much attention the original 2021 story received.
For context, the original controversy began when Pori Moni was investigating an assault case, during which Saklain served as the case’s supervising officer. Media reports at the time alleged the two had spent an extended period together at his residence, sparking a formal police investigation and his eventual removal from the Detective Branch. The June 2026 retirement decision effectively closes that chapter — but clearly hasn’t closed the public conversation around it.
Dhallywood’s Bigger Picture: A Box Office on the Rise
Beyond the individual headlines, 2026 has been a notably strong year for Bangladeshi cinema overall. Bonolota Expresscurrently leads as the year’s highest-grossing Dhallywood release, followed by Shakib Khan’s Prince and the streaming-backed Domm: Until the Last Breath from SVF, Chorki, and Alpha-i — a sign that Bangladeshi productions are increasingly competing on both theatrical and streaming fronts, and that Eid release windows continue to be the single biggest driver of box office success in the industry.
Why These Stories Matter Together
What connects Shakib Khan’s new project and Pori Moni’s resurfaced scandal isn’t coincidence — both stories highlight how tightly interconnected Dhallywood’s celebrity culture is with public institutions, from film financing to law enforcement. Shakib remains the industry’s most bankable star and its biggest headline generator on pure career news, while Pori Moni’s story continues to resurface periodically as a reminder of how much scrutiny Bangladeshi celebrities face when their personal lives intersect with public office and law enforcement.
Quick Facts
- Shakib Khan’s new film: Signed July 2, 2026, reuniting with the Borbaad production team and director Mehedi Hassan; title not yet announced.
- Shakib Khan’s 2026 hit: Prince: Once Upon a Time in Dhaka, among the year’s top-grossing Bangladeshi films.
- Pori Moni/Saklain case: Officer Md Golam Saklain formally sent into compulsory retirement in June 2026 over the 2021 controversy.
- 2026 Dhallywood box office leader: Bonolota Express.