Somen Mishra has issued a clarification regarding the recent controversy surrounding Alia Bhatt’s casting in Vasan Bala’s upcoming film ‘Jigra‘. The emotional thriller, co-produced by Karan Johar, tells the story of a brave young woman who goes to great lengths to rescue her brother, played by newcomer Vedang Raina. Ahead of the film’s release, a snippet from a promotional interview sparked online debate, claiming that Vasan Bala was “unhappy” when Karan sent an early draft of the film to Alia.
In an interview with Tried & Refused Productions, Bala explained the situation, “I had sent one very kaccha pakka (rough) email, a stream of consciousness draft, to Karan. Six or seven hours later, he called saying, ‘I’ve already sent it to Alia.’ I wasn’t happy because I would have at least done some spellcheck, and grammar check, written a nice hero entry. I asked, ‘Why did you do this?’ Karan said, ‘No, no, this is how it works.'”
The incident led to speculation that Bala hadn’t planned for Bhatt to be part of the film, a claim that was quickly debunked. Mishra took to social media to clarify the allegations in a tweet saying, “All kinds of pitches go to actors. If they like the space, then you go with the final script. Sometimes they say yes, and the script doesn’t work out, or the opposite happens. Only on social media does til ka taad (making a mountain out of a molehill) happen. Lmao.”
Mishra further expressed his excitement about casting Alia, saying, “When you see the film, you’ll understand. We were DYING to get her on board. She is MAGIC on screen. If she had said no, I don’t know who else could have played Satya. Everything else is nonsense.”
Responding to the viral clip suggesting Bala didn’t want Alia in the film, Mishra laughed off the rumours, stating, “When Vasan, Karan, and I discussed the story, we were DYING to get Alia on board. I don’t know one filmmaker who wouldn’t. We were lucky she said yes. Vasan only meant the pitch was rough at the time.”
He added, “I messaged Vasan about this, and he had no idea. He’s too busy finishing the film. We were all laughing at the ridiculous comments.”
‘Jigra’ is set to release on October 11, with a Telugu-language version also planned for release.
