Actor Bijou Thaangjam accuses makers of Alia Bhatt’s ‘Jigra’ of discrimination
Mumbai: Days after Divya Khosla Kumar accused the makers of Jigra of inflating box office figures, actor Bijou Thaangjam, known for his roles in Mary Kom and Rocketry has raised allegations of discrimination and unprofessional conduct against the film’s team.
In a post shared on X (formerly Twitter), Bijou opened up about his troubling experience with the casting team of Jigra, directed by Vasan Bala. The film, which stars Alia Bhatt and revolves around a sister’s daring jail break to rescue her brother, was released on October 11.
Bijou began his post by clarifying that his comments were not linked to the ongoing controversy over Jigra’s alleged similarity with Divya Khosla’s film Savi. “I am not here to jump on the bandwagon with the Jigra controversy over the alleged copying of Divya Khossla’s Savi,” he wrote. “But I’ve kept my experience with the team under wraps long enough. Maybe it’s time to speak up.”
The actor shared how he had auditioned for a role in Jigra and complied with multiple requests from the casting team. “Back in 2023, I was approached by their casting team. I sent in my audition tapes twice over four months. By the end of November, they confirmed I’d be shooting in December—fantastic, right? But despite that, they gave me no specific shoot dates. Instead, they booked me for the entire month of December, expecting I’d be available at a moment’s notice,” Bijou revealed.
He went on to accuse the production team of wasting his time, causing him to lose other professional opportunities. “I understand how big production houses work, and the director is undeniably talented. But the way they handled the situation was deeply unprofessional. For actors like me from the Northeast, it felt particularly dismissive—almost discriminatory.” The production team behind Jigra has yet to respond to Bijou’s allegations.
This controversy follows another claim from Divya Khosla Kumar, who accused Alia Bhatt of inflating Jigra’s box office numbers by posting images of empty theatres. Discussions around the similarity between Savi and Jigra have also added to the film’s troubles.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
