'Jigra' registers Alia Bhatt's worst box office opening in 10 years

Alia Bhatt has been one of the most successful female stars of her generation in Hindi cinema. In the dozen-odd years that she has been a part of the industry, Alia has appeared in some of the biggest industry hits and has also evolved to deliver solo female-led successes at the box office.

That is why the low opening day collection of her latest release Jigra came as a surprise to many.

Industry insiders talk about the how and whys but the fact remains that Jigra has registered the lowest opening for any Alia film in a decade.

On its opening day, Vasan Bala-directed Jigra collected just ₹4.55 crore in India, a rather low figure.

To put it in context, Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri's whacky comedy Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video, which was also released on the same day, managed to beat Jigra with a collection of ₹5.25 crore. Jigra's worldwide collection on its opening day was also a lowly ₹7.45 crore. The action drama managed some amount of recovery with a 42% jump on Saturday, which saw it earning ₹6.50 crore but it may just be too little given its initial opening figure.

Before Jigra, only one Alia Bhatt film had ever earned less than ₹5 crore on its opening day and that was Highway.

The 2014 Imtiaz Ali film opened to ₹3.48 crore. Since then, all Alia films have at least earned ₹7 crore or more, barring Kapoor & Sons.

What makes Jigra's opening ominous is that the only two flops of Alia's career - Shaandaar and Kalank - both had higher opening figures of ₹13.10 crore and ₹21.60 crore respectively. Even all of Alia's solo films with no male star have fared better. Raazi had opened to ₹7.53 crore, Dear Zindagi at ₹8.75 crore, and Gangubai Kathiawadi broke the bank with its pandemic-era opening day figure of ₹10.50 crore. These figures just go on to show how little the buzz has been for Jigra.

Why did Jigra do so badly?

The answer lies in a combination of things. For one, each of Alia's 'solo' openings had some sort of commercial embellishment. In Gangubai Kathiawadi, it was the heft of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, while in Dear Zindagi, Shah Rukh Khan's cameo helped draw some footfalls (he was on the posters and very much part of the publicity).

Some would argue that women-led films are no longer working. Kangana Ranaut certainly feels so, given her recent social media post. But the recent success of Crew dispels that notion. The fault may lie in how Jigra was marketed and even executed.

For an action film, it lacks intensity, and the drama bits lack depth. It meanders in confusion, something that the film's promotional campaign reflected too. Nobody knew where to position Jigra - a slick action thriller or the tale of a brother-sister bond. And if we have learned one thing since the pandemic, it is that the audiences have no time for mixed messaging.

Can Jigra recover at the box office?

Only once has an Alia film managed to recover from an underwhelming opening. Raazi earned ₹7.53 crore on its opening day but grew exponentially to cross ₹50 crore in six days and finish at ₹124 crore. But that film was buoyed by some terrific reviews, which Jigra does not have in its kitty. Still, there has been some upwards movement for the film on Saturday. The rest, only time (and the audience) will tell.