Divya Khossla calls out Alia Bhatt

Actor threw weight behind allegations of box office rigging by 'Jigra' makers

Despite the anticipation and appreciation it received on the release of its trailer, Jigra has been the subject of much criticism in the past few days. As of late, the film has been under fire after Bollywood film producer Divya Khossla took to Instagram to slam the creators for lying to audiences.

On her handle, Divya drew similarities between the Vasan Bala film and her own feature Savi, alleging that Jigra's creators have plagiarised her creation. The premises of the two films are comparable to a degree, since Jigra follows the story of a sister executing a prison break to rescue her brother, while in Savi, a housewife performs the same operation for her arrested husband.

Box office manipulation

Divya took to Instagram to vent out her anger on Alia's alleged stunt. She posted a photo of an empty show of Jigra on her Instagram and wrote, "Went to Citi Mall PVR for a Jigra show. The theatre was empty. All theatres were empty everywhere. Alia Bhatt truly is a 'Jigra'. Bought tickets herself and announced fake collections online. Wonder why the paid media is silent."

According to The Economic Times, the film has fared poorly in theatres since its October 11 release. Made on an overall budget of INR900 million, the action film was only able to bag INR42.5 million on the day of its release. The Telugu-dubbed version saw a harder fall, earning only INR0.5 million, with screenings at areas such as Warangal and Nizamabad producing zero turnout.

Day 4 saw no rise either. As per the Hindustan Times, the film saw a further dip, earning less than INR20 million on its first Monday. Based on the statistics of the past few days, the theatrical release only observed a consecutive drop, and an overall INR181 million revenue.

Showbiz reacts

Following the scathing fire of the feud, renowned director Karan Johar posted a cryptic quote on his Instagram Stories: "Silence is the best speech you will ever give to fools." While not mentioning anyone, he timed his update to the swelling of the controversy, offering his two cents on the situation without ever directly addressing anything.

Nurturing a long-standing friendship with the star, Karan was the one who convinced Alia to take on the project. According to co-producer Somen Mishra, he was "dying to get" Alia on board, despite creative differences with the director. As per the Hindustan Times, director Vasan Bhala did not appreciate Karan showing the script to Alia, who was soon in awe of the story. Whether or not Vasan wanted Alia on board is unclear, but these statements prompted a wildfire of speculations online.

As a result of this controversy, however, new developments have emerged. Manipur-based actor Bijou Thaangjam has accused the film's creators of "unprofessional behaviour" on X, stating that he was considered for a role in the film but was denied a follow-up, due to which he sacrificed other projects and essentially lost time and opportunities he could no longer retrieve.

Speaking on the casting process, he said, "I'm not writing this with any agenda or accusations. I just want to share the reality of how actors like me from the Northeast are often treated by big production houses. Hopefully, this sheds some light on what we face."

The statement elaborated, "I am not here to jump on the bandwagon of the Jigra controversy over the alleged copying of Divya Khossla Kumar's Savi, but I've been keeping my own experience with the Jigra team under wraps for a while, and maybe it's time to speak up.

"Back in 2023, I was approached by their casting team to audition for a role. I sent my tapes twice over the span of four months, playing along with their timeline. By the end of November, they told me I'd be shooting in December - fantastic, right? Except they never gave me any firm shoot dates.

"Still, they booked me for the entire month of December, expecting that I'd be ready to shoot for them at any moment. As someone based in Imphal, Manipur, I made it very clear from the start that travel arrangements would need to be made, but that didn't seem to matter."

It is clear that the controversy surrounding Jigra has allowed even more significant nuances to crop up. Conversations regarding plagiarism, brazen industry influence, and discrimination are finding the forefront in the head of the fire.