Alia Bhatt’s ‘Jigra’, Amitabh Bachchan’s ‘Deewar’, Divya Khossla’s ‘Savi’ and More – Does Box Office Hate Prison-Break Movies? Here’s Why We Feel So!
Alia Bhatt’s new movie Jigra might showcase one of her best performances, but it has struggled at the box office. Directed by Vasan Bala and produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions, Jigra is a prison break thriller where a sister attempts to help her younger brother escape prison in a foreign country after he is falsely implicated in drug charges. The film also stars Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Vivek Gomber, and Rahul Ravindran. ‘Jigra’ Movie Review: Alia Bhatt’s Committed Performance Helps Vasan Bala’s Prison-Break Thriller Sail Through Its Hiccups.
Despite positive reviews for Alia Bhatt’s performance and Vasan Bala’s direction, Jigra is showing the weakest box office performance of Bhatt’s career in years. In its first four days, the film collected INR 18.29 crore in India, with its momentum slowing down as the days passed. This comes as a surprise, given Alia’s stature as one of Bollywood’s strongest actresses with a significant box office pull. Before Jigra, Bhatt had 16 theatrical releases, and aside from Highway (INR 30.61 crore) and Shaandaar (INR 43.13 crore), all her other films grossed at least INR 50 crore in India. Jigra, however, is predicted to finish with less than INR 40 crore in nett business, according to trade estimates, her lowest since 2015.
While many are now questioning Alia Bhatt’s stardom, it’s worth considering one overlooked factor: do prison-break films succeed at the Bollywood box office? By “prison-break” movies, I mean films whose primary plot centres around convicts planning and executing an escape from prison. This excludes hits like Gupt and Don 2, which feature jailbreak scenes but aren’t fully based on the concept as Jigra is. In Hollywood, we’ve seen memorable examples of the genre, such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Great Escape, Papillon, The Longest Yard, Escape From Alcatraz, and Cool Hand Luke. ‘Jigra’ Box Office Verdict – Hit or Flop: 5 Reasons Why Alia Bhatt’s Prison-Break Thriller Had a Tepid Opening Weekend.
Bollywood has had its share of prison-break movies, including this year’s Savi. While its lead actress, Divya Khossla, was reportedly upset with Jigra for allegedly lifting her film’s plot, the bigger issue is that none of these jailbreak movies has succeeded at the box office.
Here are some examples:
1. ‘Gumrah’ (1993)
A Still From Gumrah
Not Savi, but this thriller, also produced by Dharma Productions, is said to have loosely inspired Jigra. Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, Gumrah starred Sridevi, Sanjay Dutt, and Rahul Roy. While it was an enjoyable pulpy thriller, it didn’t perform well at the box office.
2. ‘Deewar: Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home’ (2004)
A Still From Deewar: Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home
Directed by Milan Luthria, this film boasted an ensemble cast, including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshaye Khanna, Sanjay Dutt, Amrita Rao, and Kay Kay Menon. It focused on a group of Indian POWs plotting their escape from a Pakistani prison with the help of one soldier’s son. However, Deewar was a box-office disappointment.
3. ‘1971’ (2007)
A Still From 1971
Directed by Amrit Sagar and written by Piyush Mishra, 1971 is an underrated, moving thriller about Indian POWs attempting to escape a Pakistani prison without any outside help. Featuring excellent performances from actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Ravi Kishan, Piyush Mishra, Deepak Dobriyal, Manav Kaul, and Kumud Mishra, it received positive reviews but flew under the radar at the box office.
4. ‘Qaidi Band’ (2017)
A Still From Qaidi Band
Directed by Habib Faisal, Qaidi Band marked the acting debut of Aadar Jain and Anya Singh. Produced by YRF, the film followed undertrials who form a prison band and eventually attempt an escape. Despite the unique premise, Qaidi Band was a disaster at the box office, grossing just INR 0.36 crore in India.
5. ‘Lucknow Central’ (2017)
A Still From Lucknow Central
Directed by Ranjith Tiwari, Lucknow Central arrived around the same time as Qaidi Band with a similar plot. The movie starred Farhan Akhtar, Diana Penty, Ronit Roy, Gippy Grewal, Deepak Dobriyal, Rajesh Sharma, and Inaamulhaq. Although it fared better than Qaidi Band with INR 11.20 crore in India, Lucknow Central was still considered a box office flop.
6. ‘Savi’ (2024)
A Still From Savi
Directed by Abhinay Deo, Savi starred Divya Khossla, Harshvardhan Rane, and Anil Kapoor. An official remake of the French film Anything for Her, Savi grossed INR 7.97 crore in India, though it garnered more attention after its OTT release on Netflix. Is ‘Jigra’ a Copy of ‘Savi’? As Divya Khossla Wages Insta ‘War’ on Karan Johar and Alia Bhatt, Here’s the Truth Behind the Viral Allegation.
Sadly, Jigra couldn’t escape the fate of its predecessors in the prison-break genre when it comes to box office performance.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Oct 16, 2024 05:10 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
