The Alia Bhatt-starrer Jigra has emerged as a flop at the box office. It dropped on Sunday, which is always a bad sign and then collections nosedived on Monday. We asked trade experts to understand what went wrong with the thriller.
Trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “It is Alia Bhatt’s home production and moreover, even Karan Johar is the producer. Obviously, the expectations were huge. When a film doesn’t find acceptance, it goes down to the content. Of course, there are also times when certain external factors come into play. But here, the film had a clear run. It even came on Dussehra. Hence, the makers can’t say that they didn’t get a holiday release or that they were at a disadvantage. On top of it, it was very well promoted, and it wasn’t delayed. Everything was working in favour of the film and yet, it didn’t take off and it didn’t grow. On Sunday, the film fell as compared to Saturday, which is not a good sign. It clearly indicates that the fate of the film was sealed. One can hope that it’ll have an open run until Diwali and hence, it’ll collect. But ideally, a film like this should have started with a bang, looking at the star power.”
Vishek Chauhan, owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar, noted that “Jigra was an unnecessary film for the theatrical medium.”
He explained, “Jigra is a film that the producers want the audience to watch. It is not a film that the audience wants to watch. Alia Bhatt, without a doubt, is a big name for the theatrical audience in India. She has goodwill and has built a loyal following However, this film failed to connect at any level with the theatrical audience at large. It was a pre-COVID kind of film that people used to make and get away with. Now, the scenario has changed. I have heard that a certain section of the audience has even liked it. But that section doesn’t usually go to movie theatres anymore to watch this kind of cinema.”
He continued, “Before Covid, there was a momentum. Such films would do a lifetime business of Rs. 125 or Rs. 150 crores earlier but now, these films sometimes struggle to open at Rs. 1 crore. It seemed to be on the lines of European and Korean films. Korean films Korean filmmakers ko banane do na. If the makers feel that they can get influenced a bit from this cinema and a bit from that cinema, toh aisa nahin chalta.”
Taran Adarsh, on the same lines, said, “This is what happens when you choose an arthouse director to make a masala film. It won’t work. When you make a masala film, you need to go all out. You can’t be doing the balance of having masala and then making it in an arthouse way. This is the problem with the arthouse directors. They want to be realistic. They don’t realize that in India, there’s an audience out there that wants to watch entertainers. You need to go and woo the masses. That’s a huge segment of moviegoers. And when you ignore them, this is what happens.”
A producer said on condition of anonymity, “The film catered more to an English audience, the kind of audience that lives, breathes, thinks and talks in English 24×7. The subject matter is not relatable to the common person, that is, the person who earns under Rs. 12 lakhs annually. This is the major audience that goes to cinemas and Jigradidn’t cater to them at all. It targeted those who earn more than Rs. 1 crore and they are not the Hindi film audience ideally.”
Vishek Chauhan agreed saying, “Look at the trend of films working in cinema. Jo aam aadmi ko samaj mein aati hai, those films are working. One might argue that why films like Jigra were working earlier. My answer is – earlier, OTT platforms had not proliferated that much. In COVID, it was Bollywood that kept films away from cinemas for almost 2 years. In these 2 years, the audience got exposed to a lot of content on OTT.”
He added, “Also, an audience will want to watch a film that he/she doesn’t get to see at home. Lekin Jigra jaisa 50 films hai Netflix par by different female leads and most of them are better films than Jigra. You are not making any path-breaking cinema. On top of it, you are compromising a top star. By making such films, you are denting her box office credibility. She’s having a very good run. Giving her Jigra, which will close at Rs. 30 crores, will prove to be a dampener. Anyway, there’s a dearth of theatrical stars.”
Vishek Chauhan also made it clear that he’s not against indie cinema saying, “If you want to make niche, go all out and stun the audience. But when you try to juggle between niche and mainstream, you won’t impress the audience as they are very smart.”
Vishek Chauhan revealed that Jigra’s morning show at his cinema on the release day was cancelled due to no occupancy. He added, “Had I played Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, it would have gone house full.” Amit Sharma, Managing Director, Miraj Entertainment Limited, said, “Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video has performed 20-25% better in our cinemas than Jigra.”
Throughout the country, it has been reported that the Rajkummar Rao-starrer fared marginally better than Jigra. But in certain pockets, it was the opposite. Kiritbhai T Vaghasia, who runs The Friday Cinema multiplex in Surat, said, “The audience is not interested in either Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video or Jigra. On Sunday, not a single show of Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video was played due to zero audience. Jigra, meanwhile, got at least some audience. Rajinikanth’s Vettaiyan – The Hunter worked the most in my cinema followed by Jigra and then Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video.”
He further stated, “The audience report is not good for Jigra. Not a single person has said that he/she has enjoyed it thoroughly. Also, there was no urgency to watch it. Those who had free time came to see it. No one was dying to see it, as it happens for certain films.”
