Popular film actor Skakib Khan has been slapped with a Tk50 lakh lawsuit by Izazul Miah, a hapless mason in Habiganj whose life was turned upside down when Shakib carelessly gave Izazul's mobile phone number away in a scene of his Eid film "Rajneeti".
Izazul filed a case of fraud and defamation with Habiganj Senior Judicial Magistrate's Court on Sunday, also suing the film's director Bulbul Bishwas and producer Ashfaque Ahmed.
The senior judicial magistrate, Shompa Jahan, accepted Izazul's case and directed the local office of the Detective Branch (DB) of police to look into the matter.
“Rajneeti,” an Eid-ul-Fitr special feature film, was released in July and stars Shakib Khan as well as Opu Bishwas.
In one of the scenes of "Rajneeti", Shakib's character lecherously gives his phone number to Opu Bishwas' character. The number turned out to be real, belonging to Izazul, a native of Jatrapasha village in Habiganj's Baniachong upazila.
However, film star Shakib's crazed fans believed it was the number of Bangladesh’s “King Khan”; naturally, they called the number to profess their admiration for their favourite actor.
Also Read - How Shakib Khan’s ‘phone number’ cost a man his wife, job
Izazul's phone started ringing day and night. Police sources said a total of 432 calls were made to his number between July 10 and July 15.
Whenever he answered, the callers, most of whom were women, excitedly queried: "Shakib Khan? I'm your biggest fan!"
A man who was used to a quiet and uneventful life, Izazul lost control of it all of a sudden. His wife left him because so many women were calling him, and he started losing his clients because they could not get him on his phone, since it was unavailable due to the fan calls.
Izazul has claimed that the director and producer of the film did not ask for his permission before using his number in the film.
The director, Bulbul Bishwas, claimed the number had not been in use for around five years; hence they used it.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune on Sunday, Izazul's lawyer MA Majid said: "As the mobile number was widely circulated, the plaintiff's phone remained busy for the most part of the day in the last few months, causing him to lose his business and affected him financially."
The lawyer further said they had requested the court to stop promotion and screening of the film until the case was dismissed.
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