Manipur actor alleges discrimination by Jigra team: Deeply unprofessional

Just days after Divya Khossla accused the Jigra makers of manipulating box office figures, an actor from Northeast India came forward with allegations of discrimination.

In Short

• Manipur actor BijouThaangjam accused Jigra makers of 'unprofessional behaviour'
• He detailed his experience in a lengthy note on X
• The actor auditioned for Jigra and had his dates held up without a final confirmation

A few days after Divya Khossla accused the makers of Jigra of ‘faking’ box office numbers, Manipur actor BijouThaangjam, known for his work in Mary Kom and Rocketry, raised allegations of discrimination against the film's team. Recently, he shared his experience with the makers in a detailed post on X.

Bijou has accused the makers of Alia Bhatt's film of 'unprofessional behaviour' and criticised major production houses for showing bias against actors from the Northeast. “I am not here to jump on the bandwagon with the Jigra controversy over the alleged copying of Divya Khossla’s Savi, but I’ve been keeping my own experience with the Jigra team under wraps for a while, and maybe it’s time to speak up (sic)," his post read.

He detailed his experience, stating, “Back in 2023, I was approached by their casting team to audition for a role. I sent in my tapes twice over the span of four months, playing along with their timeline. By the end of November, they told me I’d be shooting in December—fantastic, right? Except they never gave me any firm shoot dates. Still, they booked for the entire month of December, expecting that I’d be ready to shoot for them at any moment (sic).”

He then accused the makers of wasting his time, which caused him to miss several other opportunities that came his way. “I understand how big production houses operate. The director is undeniably talented, but the way they handled this entire situation was deeply unprofessional. For actors like me from the Northeast, it felt particularly dismissive, almost discriminatory (sic),” he added.

The makers of the film are yet to respond to Bijou’s claims. Jigra released in theatres on October 11.

A few days ago, actor-filmmaker Divya Khossla accused Alia Bhatt of inflating box office numbers by posting images of empty theatres. This came after discussions arose about the similarities between Divya's film Savi and Alia's Jigra.

Directed by Vasan Bala, Jigra is a story about a sister breaking the jail to rescue her brother.