Why 'Jigra,' 'Vicky Vidya Ka...' didn't work at box office
The debacle of two Bollywood biggies, Jigra and Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (VVKWWV), has left the industry rattled. Why did the films starring A-listers, on varying topics, fail? Film exhibitor, Roshan Singh told Zoom that family audiences were put off by the title of VVKWWV, confusing it for a "sleazy film about making sex tapes" like Rajkummar Rao's Love Sex Aur Dhokha. About Jigra, Singh mentioned the absence of emotional connect between Alia Bhatt and Vedang Raina's characters.
'Jigra' failed to connect despite thrilling plot
Despite its gripping rescue thriller plot, Jigra didn't strike a chord with the audience. Singh was surprised at this, saying, "As for Jigra, bhai-bahen ki film thi lekin koi emotions nahin (it was a brother-sister film but lacked emotions). Alia and Vedang Raina, unfortunately, didn't look anything like sister and brother." Stressing more on Bhatt's action sequences and not building her relationship with her brother enough could have been one of the reasons for the film's box office failure.
Trade analyst Girish Johar's take on films' underperformance
Producer and trade analyst Girish Johar also spoke about the dismal performance of both films. He pointed out a few reasons for their failure, including the high expectations set by the makers, owing to their past successful films. While Jigra is backed by Dharma Productions, VVKWWV is co-produced by T-Series. "Sadly, the audience was disappointed. It's a very thin line of going overboard." "The content, its feedback, audiences reception and reviews, everything was not up to the mark," he added.
Lack of chartbuster music and negative social media backlash
Johar further noted that neither film had chartbuster music, which could have possibly pulled in their target audiences. Triptii Dimri even faced flak for her dance in VVKWWV's Tere Mehboob song. Further, both films also received a surprising amount of negative backlash and strong undercurrents on social media. All these factors combined to create a difficult environment for the films at the box office, ultimately resulting in their underperformance.
