A Kolkata film producer has reignited the long-running Dev-Jeet rivalry by unfavorably comparing advance ticket bookings for Jeet’s upcoming biopic with Dev’s record-breaking numbers from last year, sparking a social media firestorm ahead of India’s Independence Day releases.
Jeet’s biographical film “Keu Bole Bipplobi, Keu Bole Dakat” (Some Say Revolutionary, Some Say Bandit) is set to release on August 15. But just before the premiere, producer Rana Sarkar stoked the rivalry by sharing screenshots of houseful advance bookings for Dev and Subhashree’s “Dhumketu” from a year ago.
Sarkar posted the comparison with a pointed message urging Jeet’s fans to prove their star’s worth, writing that Dhumketu’s bookings had been houseful two days before its release last year and challenging Jeet’s supporters to match them.
Jeet’s fans fired back, with one calling the comparison a sign of “sadistic mentality” and questioning Sarkar’s motives. Undeterred, the producer doubled down with a direct challenge to Jeet’s fan clubs: “Won’t you accept the challenge?”
The Dev-Jeet rivalry is a perennial feature of Tollywood. A direct box office showdown on Independence Day had been anticipated, but Dev postponed the release of his “Bike Ambulance Dada” indefinitely last month.
Jeet maintained there is no personal animosity, saying the postponement was entirely Dev and Nandi Movies’ decision and that no discussion between them had taken place.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report