Lights, camera, Azan! Ananta Jalil changes career for his sons’ learning Quran

Move over, method acting – there’s a new kind of dedication in town, and it comes with a miswak and a madrasa timetable.

Ananta Jalil, actor, producer, businessman, and occasional heartthrob of Dhallywood, has dropped a real plot twist: He’s quitting films. Not because of box office flops, not due to criticism over his unique acting style, but because… his kids are studying the Quran.

Yes, you read that right.

In a recent interview that’s now trending faster than a dholki beat at a milad mehfil, Ananta announced he’ll be hanging up his leather jackets, action-hero sunglasses, and film scripts for good, at least once he wraps up a few projects still in the pipeline.

“I may quit films after completing the few works in hand,” he said, sounding less like a retiring star and more like a dad who’s just discovered bedtime duas. “My children are studying Islamic studies. It doesn’t look good if their parents make films.”

From action star to full-time father would-be hafiz boys

And honestly, can you blame him? His eldest son? An 8-year-old who already memorised eight of 30 chapters of the holy Quran. Alhamdulillah, indeed. The younger one? Also finished reading the Quran and is now on his second round — because why just read it once when you can replay it like a spiritual Netflix series?

Aged 7.5 and 10.5, these boys aren’t just busy, they’re overbooked. School, private tutors, madrasa, Quranic recitation, their schedule makes Ananta’s film shoots look like siestas.

“They get a break after Zuhr,” Ananta revealed. “Then they come home, study with a teacher, then go to madrasa. They’re so busy, busier than us.”

Meanwhile, the rest of us are struggling to finish one episode of a TV show.

Barsha, beware: The Quran is coming for your career too

And it’s not just Ananta stepping back. He casually dropped a fatwa on his wife Barsha’s film career too: “Since they’re studying both Islamic and general studies, if their mother does a film, they won’t like it. I think she should quit too.”

Cue the dramatic tabla roll. So much for power couples – welcome to the power prayer couple.

The couple’s kids are enrolled at Manarat International School, where the curriculum blends English education with Islamic studies – because why choose between algebra and ayat when you can master both?

The final reel?

Ananta’s swan song includes the recently released Kill Him – because even in retirement, he’s still killing it. And then there’s Netri: The Leader, a Bangladesh-Turkey co-production directed by South Indian filmmaker Upendra Madhav (and co-directed by Ananta himself, because why not?).

The film boasts a who’s who of regional cinema – Kabir Duhan Singh, Tarun Arora, Pradeep Rawat, Ilyas Kanchan, Kazi Hayat – making it less a movie and more a geopolitical summit with explosions.

But once these films are out, don’t expect a comeback. Ananta’s future is set: Madinah, not Mohakhali. “We intend to make our son a mufti,” he said. “In the future, we’ll go to Medina and teach.”

So while other stars chase fame, Ananta Jalil is chasing sunnah. From action hero to aspiring ustad, now that’s a character arc even Hollywood couldn’t script.

Final Verdict: Dhallywood just lost its most spiritually conflicted star. But hey, at least his IMDb bio will soon read: "Actor. Producer. Father of Hafiz Boys. Future Resident of Madinah Al Munawara."

Now that’s a legacy worth more than any box office.