Karan Johar Calls Jigra’s Failure Disappointing, Says Alia Bhatt’s Choice Will Be Called Brave

In a conversation with Suchin Mehrotra, Karan Johar discussed the box office performance of Jigra, which featured Alia Bhatt in the lead role with Vedang Raina and Manoj Pahwa. He mentioned that the team had confidence in the film and Vasan Bala’s direction, and thus, the outcome was understandably disappointing. However, he expressed his belief that the film would be recognized for its innovative qualities in the years to come.

During the interview, Karan mentioned, “Vasan’s meta-referencing, quirks and style of absolutely breaking the grammar of filmmaking, such things may not always land, right? But should he stop making films like this because of that? No! He must always make films that he believes in.” 

He added, “Yes, we were disappointed, dejected and sad. But we are all very proud of that film, even today. Even now, we have a group comprising Vasan, me and Alia. Vasan has a brilliant self-deprecating sense of humour. He will make fun of himself in the most unique way possible. We still send messages on that group. Like I will go and chat about this. I do believe that a decade or two later, we will reference Jigra as something that broke ground, something that Alia was brave to do, something that Vasan was brave to contribute to and the rest of us were so brave to do. I am very proud of Jigra. There are films that I am not proud of that have failed… this film may have failed at the box office but for me it is a success story, and I will maintain it.” 

Jigra was an action-packed story, starring Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina as siblings, centred on a prison break, showing the extreme measures a sister takes to protect her brother. Produced by Dharma Productions, Jigra was released in theatres on October 11 last year. 

Also Read: Inside photos from Karan Johar’s twins Roohi & Yash Johar’s second birthday