The controversies surrounding Alia Bhatt’s film Jigra continue to escalate as Manipur-based actor Bijou Thaangjam has publicly accused the film’s makers of discrimination against actors from Northeast India. The film, which released in theatres on October 11, has already faced scrutiny from Divya Khossla Kumar, who claimed that Bhatt was inflating box office figures.
In a detailed post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Thaangjam expressed his frustration with the Jigra team regarding his audition experience. He revealed that he was approached by the casting team in 2023 and sent his audition tapes multiple times over a four-month period. Despite being informed that he would be shooting in December, he claimed that he was never given any firm shooting dates, leaving him in limbo.
“I made it very clear from the start that travel arrangements would need to be made, but that didn’t seem to matter,” Thaangjam wrote, highlighting the challenges faced by actors from the Northeast in securing roles with big production houses.
The actor criticized the Jigra team for their lack of communication, stating, “Throughout the month, I was left in the dark…I lost out on other projects because I was sitting around, waiting for them to give me the go-ahead. But of course, that never came.”
In his concluding remarks, Thaangjam emphasized the need to shed light on the challenges faced by Northeast actors, saying, “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.”
This latest accusation follows a wave of scrutiny regarding the film’s performance at the box office. Jigra has struggled to gain traction since its release, with reports indicating that it has accumulated only ₹16.75 crore in its opening week. On its first Sunday, the film recorded an overall Hindi occupancy rate of 26.57%.
Sources By Agencies
