Director Vasan Bala, who most recently helmed his biggest project till date, Dharma Productions’ Jigra, starring Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina, spoke to The Hollywood Reporter India about the audience’s reception to the movie, and its lackluster box office performance.
For those who don’t know, Jigra has made only an estimated Rs. 37.49 crore worldwide. The action thriller movie, produced by Karan Johar, also got embroiled in multiple controversies, with Divya Khosla Kumar accusing the makers of plagiarizing her movie Savi, which also released earlier this year.
Now, in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Vasan Bala, when asked how he’s doing with the movie’s dismal performance, said, “Tough. One day at a time. For me, it has always been a struggle to put the film out. But this time, it was a given that the film was going to be out and in a big way. So this is a first for me, and I don’t even know how to process this. What I do know is there is a certain responsibility in the mainstream to deliver (at the) box office.”
Speaking about the lessons he’s learned thus far, Bala said, “I don’t know. I will know after this. But this time, I had to deliver, especially when a superstar like Alia Bhatt, who could have been on any other film set, has given that time and faith and energy to this, with Karan Johar putting in his resources.”
When asked if he feels disappointed, Bala said, “I do feel it. I feel it majorly. I mean, they (the makers) are supremely supportive, and there is no ounce of letting me feel like this. It is something that I have to grapple with.”
The filmmaker also spoke about his experience of making a commercial movie for the first time, and said, “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.”
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