Dev-starrer Khadaan became the first Bengali film to witness a houseful show at 2am upon its release, the actor-producer said in a social media post on Friday. The film had its first screening at SVF Cinemas, Raiganj.

Dev’s fans showed up at the theatre with drums and danced along to celebrate the film’s release. Dev, visibly elated, shared a video on social media, offering a glimpse of the celebrations. “1st show #Khadaan 2am. This is the situation. Happy me. Will share the reviews too 🙏🏻,” he wrote.

The lead-up to Khadaan’s release was not without challenges. On Wednesday, Dev had expressed concerns over limited theatre availability for Bengali films, attributing the issue to competition from “other language films”.

Despite the hurdles, the actor remained resolute in ensuring that Khadaan reached its intended audience. In a direct appeal to fans, he urged them to inform him if the film was not being screened in their localities.

However, the overwhelming response to Khadaan has silenced doubts about its reception. On BookMyShow, Khadaan was trending and sold over 14,000 tickets in 24 hours. From filmmaker Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury to Birsa Dasgupta and Dhrubo Banerjee, Dev’s colleagues from the Bengali film fraternity were all praise for the actor-producer for achieving this historic milestone.

Directed by Soojit Rino Dutta, Khadaan stars Jisshu Sengupta, Idhika Paul, Barkha Bisht and Anirban Chakrabarti in pivotal roles. The story follows two friends — Mohan (Jisshu Sengupta) and Shyam (Dev) — who rule the roost in the mines. However, Shyam is implicated in a crime and jailed, while Mohan rises through ranks to become a rich industrialist in the region. Shyam’s place is taken by his son (Dev) who vows to take revenge for the wrongs committed against his father.