The feud between Divya Khossla Kumar and the Karan Johar-Alia Bhatt camp has taken a dramatic turn recently. It all began when Divya made a controversial post on Instagram, accusing Alia Bhatt of misrepresenting the opening figures of her latest film, Jigra. Opened to mixed reviews, the film faced scrutiny after Divya alleged that Alia was manipulating box office numbers by purchasing tickets herself.
Divya’s Instagram story featured a photo of an apparently empty cinema hall where Jigra was screening. She expressed disbelief over the claimed box office collections, stating, “Theatre was totally empty … all theatres going empty everywhere,” and added that Alia was “fooling the audience” with inflated figures. She wrote, “Went to Citi Mall PVR for a Jigra show. The theatre was totally empty… all theatres are empty everywhere. #Aliabhatt me sach mein Bahut #Jigra hai.. khud hi tickets karide aur fake collections announce kar diye. Wonder why paid media is silent.” Her post included hashtags like #TruthOverLies and #WeShouldNotFoolTheAudience.”
In response to Divya’s accusations, Karan Johar shared a cryptic message on his Instagram stories, stating, “Silence is the best speech you will ever give to fools.” Though he didn’t mention Divya directly, it was clear whom he was addressing. Divya quickly fired back with her own post, countering Karan’s statement by saying, “Truth will always offend fools opposed to it.” She followed this with another story that criticised those who “steal” from others, insinuating that silence often accompanies guilt. She wrote, “When you are so accustomed to stealing what rightfully belongs to others, you will always seek shelter in silence. You will have no voice, no spine.”
The tension between the two parties can be traced back to the release of Jigra, which has emerged as one of Alia Bhatt’s lowest openers, earning just Rs 11 crore in its first two days, one of which was a holiday. Adding to the drama, Jigra clashed with Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Waala Video, a film produced by Divya’s husband, Bhushan Kumar of T-Series.
Moreover, Jigra bears similarities to Divya’s own project, Savi, a prison-break drama co-starring Anil Kapoor. Sources close to Divya have alleged that Mukesh Bhatt, the producer of Savi, acquired the rights to The Next Three Days for Rs 4 crore while still working with his now-estranged brother, Mukesh Bhatt. According to these sources, Alia was aware of the remake rights, and when the brothers had a fallout, she “gave the screenplay to another production house”.