Two Bangla film songs cross the billion-view mark
It’s a new milestone for Bangladeshi cinema in terms of releasing digitally. Two songs from the movie Toofan, featuring megastar Shakib Khan and directed by Raihan Rafi, have already hit one billion views on YouTube — a first for Bangla film music.
The songs — Lage Uradhura and Dushtu Kokil — have broken the viewership prototype and, in many ways, represent a meaningful shift in how Bangladeshi content is enjoyed and celebrated globally.
The film, which was released on May 28 last year, received rave reviews for its infectious energy. Shapla’s chorus, Russel Mahmud’s words, and tune by hitmaker Pritom Hasan altogether made the song soulful. Pritom also dubbed the song with Devshri Antra. On the Chorki and SBV YouTube channels, the song has been watched more than 44.95 million times. Meanwhile, its total digital reach — aided by remixes and reuploads along the way — has surpassed 1 billion.
On June 20, the second record-breaker, Dushtu Kokil, was released, delivering a visual and musical experience all its own. The song is written, composed, and sung by Akash Sen with female playback by Dilshad Nahar Kona. The video unfolds in and around a paan shop, where Mimi Chakraborty is seen performing energetically, which instantly captures the attention of Shakib Khan’s character. The song has more than 50 million views on Chorki and SBV combined, though its broader digital circulation easily pushes it past one billion views overall.
The incredible part about this accomplishment is the global response. Both went viral outside of Bangladesh, earning the praise of YouTubers and content creators who usually just review Hindi and South Indian films. Clips from the tracks overwhelmed platforms like YouTube Shorts, Facebook Reels and TikTok, resulting in millions of interactions, comments, and user-generated videos.
In response to the huge reaction, singer Kona said she was emotional. She said to me that the reward was performing it live and seeing how people responded, how they would get out of their seats and cheer. Although she said “viewcounts have never been the main goal,” her words are backed up by view counts this big, representing a genuine love and connection listeners have for the music.
Toofan’s music is making its own mark in digital history, and these two songs are proof that Bangla film music has not only found its sound but also its international audience.