Actor-producer Dev on Friday announced that he will make his directorial debut with the much anticipated Bengali film DeSu7, set to hit theatres on Durga Puja 2026.

Dev said he will also write the screenplay of the film. DeSu7 will be shot over 50 days from June to August, involving around 10,000 technicians.

Dev further announced that Anirban Bhattacharya will feature in his upcoming production, which also stars Subhashree Ganguly. The announcement comes amid the recent ‘ban’ on Bhattacharya in the Bengali film industry.

Dev has been very vocal against ‘ban culture’ in the Bengali film industry.

Addressing reporters at Technicians’ Studio earlier this week, Dev made a strong appeal for putting an end to this practice.

Tollywood veteran Prosenjit Chatterjee, who was present at the meeting, assured that filmmakers and actors affected by this ‘ban culture’ will soon be returned to work. He also promised to discuss the issue with Swaroop Biswas, the president of the Federation of Cine Workers and Technicians of Eastern India.

Days after the press meet, the Directors’ Association of Eastern India (DAEI) wrote to Dev expressing willingness to resolve the issue. DAEI president Shaibal Mitra said the process of resolving the dispute has begun, and that the guild has reached out to the federation seeking discussions for an early resolution.

Meanwhile, DeSu7 marks Dev and Subhashree’s on-screen pairing in over a decade. They last appeared together in Kaushik Ganguly’s Dhumketu, which released in theatres in 2025 after a nine-year delay.

In a first for the Bengali film industry, the tickets for DeSu7 went on sale 10 months before the actual release of the film.