The controversy involving Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina's film Jigra continues to escalate. Recently, Divya Khossla, accused Alia and the film's makers of 'copying' her project, Savi. She also criticised Karan Johar for using a 'derogatory language'.
This all began when Divya posted on her Instagram story, accusing Alia and the Jigra team of manipulating box office numbers. She claimed that Alia had purchased tickets to inflate the film's collection. Following this, Karan shared a story of his own, suggesting that "silence is the best speech you will ever give to fools," without directly naming anyone.
Divya reacted to Karan's post and wrote on Instagram, "Truth will always offend fools opposed to it." Now, while speaking to the Hindustan Times, Divya said, "Today, when I speak up, Mr Karan Johar uses derogatory language to shut me down. Is it right to call a woman a fool for pointing out unethical practices? If this happens to me, what about those new to the industry? No one is a king here, and I won’t be treated like a subject. There are many more derogatory words which were used in their PR articles, and called my taking a stand as a PR stunt. I'm sorry, I don't need one. I'm already well known.”
While talking about Alia Bhatt and nd the 'fake box office collection' controversy and said, "Alia doesn’t need to resort to such tactics; she’s already well-established. But true heroism is in speaking against wrongdoing. Let the audience decide based on merit, not money and power.”
Khossla raised her concerns about corporate bookings and manipulated box office numbers and said, "After Covid, smaller production houses have shut down, and only those with money survive. I saw an empty theatre, yet Jigra’s opening figures were inflated. That needs serious correction."
She added, "We are creative people, we are not in a share market, and by giving fake box office numbers, certain media persons also highlight bad films. When good films work, no one talks about that. These people decide which film is will be declared a hit- as tickets are bought and fake collections are announced. And that's why only those people will be able to survive here, who have money. New talent, will never be able to enter."
A few days ago, Divya Khosla Kumar responded to the similarities between her film Savi and Alia Bhatt’s Jigra. While she acknowledged the connection, she emphasized that each film has its own journey and expressed gratitude for exploring the genre first. Savi, starring Harshvardhan Rane and Anil Kapoor, follows a housewife trying to break her husband out of a high-security prison in England, inspired by the story of Savitri and Satyavan. In Jigra, Alia's character also plans a jailbreak to rescue her brother from prison.
