Filmmaker Vasan Bala and actress Alia Bhatt recently teamed up for the first time for action-thriller Jigra. The film, which received mixed reviews from critics, failed to make any substantial monetary returns at the box office, making it one of Bollywood’s biggest duds of 2024.
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Now, in a recent interview with Mashable India, Bala reminisced on working with the Raazi actress and expressed his hope that other filmmakers will get a chance to work with her. “I think every director I love should get an opportunity to work with Alia Bhatt. They will be spoilt and then unki agli film mein band bajegi (They will suffer in their next film).”
Speaking about how easy it was to direct her, he said, “She has no entourage, nothing, she is always ready. Sometimes, I didn’t even have to communicate how I wanted a scene; a gesture from my end would be enough for her to understand what I needed in that shot.”
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"Usually, sets are funny, but this film lacked humour, so the environment on the set used to remain quite serious. This one day, we had a lighter day, and we were just chit-chatting and laughing," Bala continued.
About Jigra
Jigra focuses on the unwavering bond between siblings. Satya (Bhatt) and Ankur Anand (Vedang Raina) had a rocky childhood which left them both relying on each other. When Satya finds out that her brother has been captured and is being tortured in a foreign jail, she makes it her mission to rescue him. With her brother as the only family she has left, Satya takes on the daring task.
The film could only manage to collect Rs 50 crore worldwide against a budget of Rs 80 crore.