‘Jigra’: Raja Beta Syndrome on Steroids
The Alia Bhatt-Vedang Raina film follows a sister who’ll do whatever it takes to save her jailed brother. The result is, unexpectedly, magic.
Satya (Alia Bhatt), in a sleek bob and suit, is watching everything amid the machinations of a big, fat Indian wedding. The diya in one corner is dying down, two kids are dancing barefoot near a nail (which she promptly picks up), and the groom, Nakul, is about to elope with his pregnant lover. Satya stops Nakul just as he’s about to escape, closes the door, and tells him to cover his face. Why? So she can beat him senseless. “Tu pyaar karta hai na?” she asks. You love her, right? Of course, he responds. “To zinda rakh na.” Then keep her alive.
After Satya, once again, saves the day, Mehtani uncle — her employer — asks her to change out of her uniform. “You look like staff,” he chides. “We’re family after all.”
In just one opening scene, filmmaker Vasan Bala, who directed and co-wrote Jigra (2024), establishes his film’s key themes about a sister out to save her brother, Ankur (Vedang Raina). When your parents are dead, all you can rely on is your closest kin. And these are the only people, Bala shows us — not without a few hiccups — who make you feel at home.