Jigra Movie Review: Gulzar once wrote, "Jigar mein badi aag hai," but in ‘Jigra’, Alia Bhatt’s performance lacks the spark, let alone a fire. This film gives no compelling reason to watch it in theatres. Before the release, Dharma Productions, led by Karan Johar, decided not to show the movie to the media in advance—a move often made to avoid early negative reviews impacting the box office. Whether that was the case here or not, at my 11 AM show, despite no reviews being out yet, only nine people were in the audience—four couples and myself.
Jigra plot
The story was essentially revealed in the trailer. Alia Bhatt’s brother gets trapped in a foreign prison and is sentenced to death, and Alia’s character sets out to save him. Of course, since it's Alia Bhatt, we know she’ll succeed—there’s no need to guess that. The real question is how she does it, and unfortunately, that’s where the film falters.
How is Jigra?
While we know the outcome, the journey was supposed to be intriguing, but it isn’t. The emotional bond between the brother and sister is underdeveloped, making it hard for the audience to connect with them. The first half of the movie feels slow and tedious, and just when you hope the second half will pick up, it disappoints. After movies like ‘Animal’ and ‘Kill’, the bar for violent thrillers has been set high, but ‘Jigra’ doesn’t meet those expectations. We expected Alia to take charge and deliver a gripping action-packed performance, but that doesn't happen. The film's treatment is very average, and the jail-break plot offers little excitement.
Acting
Alia Bhatt is undoubtedly a talented actress with a long track record of excellent performances, but here, she doesn’t deliver anything extraordinary. While her performance is decent, she has done far better work in the past. She seems underutilised in this film, and one wonders if director Vasan Bala could have benefited from taking a few tips from Sanjay Leela Bhansali on how to bring out the best in Alia. Vedang Raina, as a newcomer, does a commendable job for his level of experience, and Manoj Pahwa is solid, but the lackluster screenplay limits how much the actors can do.
Direction
Vasan Bala’s direction is, at best, average. Given that the audience already knew the film’s core plot, it was essential to bring something fresh to the table with the execution. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen. In today’s cinema landscape, you need a strong reason to pull people into theatres, and while Alia Bhatt could have been that reason, her potential wasn’t fully tapped.
Jigra verdict
Overall, Jigra doesn’t warrant a trip to the cinema. You might want to wait for its OTT release, and if you’re an Alia Bhatt fan, you can give it a watch then. Otherwise, it’s the one to skip.