Alia Bhatt’s latest film, Jigra has been making headlines ever since it hit theatres. Unfortunately, it has done so for all the wrong reasons, including lacklustre reviews, fake box office collections, and accusations of plagiarism. And it seems like the controversies aren’t going to end any time soon, as actor, Bijou Thaangjam, who hails from the Northeast, accuses the Jigra makers of discrimination. The team is yet to respond to his claims.
Many might recognize Bijou Thaangjam from movies like Rocketry, Mary Kom, and Shivaay. And according to him, they would have even seen him in Alia Bhatt-starrer, Jigra, too, had the film’s makers not been ‘discriminatory’. Bijou took to X with the revelation that he had actually been locked in for a role in Jigra. However, it seems the makers never reached out to him once the shooting actually began.
In the X post, Bijou included two images that detailed the whole incident, as it was too lengthy to pen down in a tweet. He also included with it a caption, which could be read as:
“I’m not writing this with any agenda or accusations. I just want to share the reality of how actors like me from the Northeast are often treated by big production houses. Hopefully, this sheds some light on what we face. #Jigra #JigraMovie #AliaBhatt #DivyaKhosla #VasanBala”
Bijou revealed in the post that it was Jigra’s casting team that had approached him to audition for a role in the film. The actor gladly accepted the offer and sent in his audition tapes twice within a period of four months as per the team’s timeline.
Bijou further claims that the Jigra team then confirmed that they had booked him to start shooting in December. In fact, he had even discussed that he would need their help with travel arrangements, and it didn’t seem to be a problem. In his words:
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“By the end of November, they told me I'd be shooting in December — fantastic, right? Except they never gave me any firm shoot dates. Still, they booked me for the entire month of December, expecting that I'd be ready to shoot for them at any moment. As someone based in Imphal, Manipur, I made it very clear from the start that travel arrangements would need to be made, but that didn't seem to matter.”
However, the team allegedly left him hanging for months after that. Bijou revealed that he received no real updates on when his presence would be needed at the shoot location. He specified that he had received a final message on December 26, 2023, that read, ‘Waiting for a revert’, but complete silence followed after that.
Bijou further claimed that he had missed out on doing other projects while sitting around for the Jigra team to get back to him. Highlighting the team’s unprofessional behaviour, he wrote:
“I understand how big production houses operate. The director is undeniably talented, but the way they handled this entire situation was deeply unprofessional. For actors like me from the Northeast, it felt particularly dismissive, almost discriminatory. My time was wasted, and I missed out on other opportunities just because they expected I'd be available at a moment's notice.”
Check out the post here.
What do you think about Bijou Thaangjam accusations against the Jigra filmmakers? Let us know.
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