Alia Bhatt faced an unexpected setback with the underperformance of her 2024 release Jigra. The film’s struggle became more controversial when actor–filmmaker Divya Khosla Kumar accused the makers of Jigra of lifting the plot from her film Savi. Now, Alia’s uncle and veteran producer Mukesh Bhatt has strongly rebutted the allegations.
Mukesh opens up about the Savi-Jigra controversy
Speaking to Lehren Retro, Mukesh, who worked with Divya on Savi, said Divya’s claims seemed designed purely for attention. “What Divya did for publicity, I don’t know about that,” he remarked, adding that Jigra actually drew inspiration from Mahesh Bhatt’s 1993 film Gumrah, which itself was influenced by Bangkok Hilton. “I think that film was the inspiration behind Jigra,” he clarified.
Calling the controversy a “publicity stunt,” he continued, “To get some attention in the media, you can create some controversy. Everyone needs publicity, and for publicity, you need some controversy.”
Mukesh went on to strongly defend Alia, asserting that she did not need to employ such tactics. “Alia Bhatt is a major star. When you drag a bigger name into something, a controversy is bound to spark. But Alia isn’t someone who needs to steal ideas. She’s intelligent, sorted, and grounded. She would never stoop to such a level. I can vouch for that. Alia is too big for this. Usko yeh chichori harkat karne ki zarurat nahi hai (She doesn’t need to do something this cheap).”
What did Divya Khosla say?
Divya Khossla Kumar publicly accused Jigra of copying her film, Savi, by pointing out the similarity in their jailbreak storylines and claiming that her film had explored the concept first. She also alleged that Jigra’s makers inflated box-office numbers, sharing a photo of an empty theatre and suggesting that tickets were being bought in bulk to project fake collections.
Savi, starring Harshvardhan Rane and Anil Kapoor, reimagines the tale of Savitri and Satyavan, following a housewife who attempts to free her husband from a high-security UK prison. In contrast, Jigra narrates the story of a brother-sister duo with a troubled past, focusing on the sister’s mission to rescue her brother (played by Vedang Raina) from prison.
