Alia Bhatt’s Jigra was among the most awaited films of last year as it brought together two entirely different worlds together. Vasan Bala, known for his off-beat movies, directed it and Karan Johar produced it. Yet, the film turned out to be a failure at the box office. Karan opened up about the action-thriller recently and said that he is proud of backing it and he would love to collaborate with Vasan in future.
During a chat with Suchin Mehrotra on his YouTube channel, Karan said, “Jigra had a certain syntax that was not quintessentially mainstream. We had realised that when we watched the movie. But we all believed in it together. None of us were not on the same page. We knew what we were going for. Yes, we were hoping against hope that it would find a wider audience… but we all understand it.”
Speaking about Vasan’s style of filmmaking, Karan said, “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, “I’m very proud of Jigra. There are films that I’m not proud of. This film may have failed at the box office, but to me and our studio, it’s a success story. Yes, every film is flawed; we can discuss and analyse those flaws. But did it shock us when the film failed? No, we understood it, and we did discuss it. We were pragmatic enough to know that we could be in a hit-miss zone; that we may hit the bullseye or we might miss it. We were self-aware. So, its outcome did not come to us as a devastating shock to any of us.”
Earlier in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Vasan said that he was surprised at the film’s reception at the box office. “The surprise was the failure because you obviously don’t set out to fail. Also, this was not a very stubborn, I-will-only-deliver-it-this-way kind of film. I thought it was a pretty accessible, straight-arrow film, and the emotions were universal.”
He also spoke about whether he feels if he disappointed Karan and lead actor Alia. “I do feel it. I feel it majorly. I mean, they are supremely supportive, and there is no ounce of letting me feel like this. It is something that I have to grapple with,” he said.