Actor Divya Khossla has sparked a heated debate with her Story criticizing Alia Bhatt’s latest release Jigra (see grab on the right) and publicly clashing with co-producer Karan Johar, who responded to her allegations by posting: “Silence is the best speech you will ever give to fools” on his social media. To which, Khossla quickly retaliated with another Story: “Truth will always offend fools opposed to it.” We speak to Khossla exclusively to learn more.

“Today, when I speak up, Karan Johar uses derogatory language to shut me down. Is it right to call a woman a fool for pointing out unethical practices? If this happens to me, what about those new to the industry? No one is a king here, and I won’t be treated like a subject,” she says.

Khossla’s initial post targeted actor Alia Bhatt for allegedly benefiting from “fake ticket bookings”. She says, “Alia doesn’t need to resort to such tactics; she’s already well-established. But true heroism is speaking against wrongdoing. Let the audience decide based on merit, not money and power.”

Khossla highlighted her concern with corporate bookings and manipulated box office numbers: “After Covid, smaller production houses have shut down, and only those with money survive. I saw an empty theatre, yet Jigra’s opening figures were inflated. That needs serious correction.”

Khossla claims “Jigra is a copy” of her film Savi, a jailbreak story. Savi was based on The Next Three Days (2010), for which her team bought the rights. She notes that “both films share the same story line”, but her project “was in production first”.

Both Savi and Jigra share a common link — Mukesh Bhatt, Alia’s uncle, who co-produced Savi. When asked if she discussed the similarities with him, Khossla confirms, “Yes, but I won’t drag him into this due to his family ties and age.”

Khossla dismissed claims that her outburst was due to Jigra clashing with her husband Bhushan Kumar’s production, Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video: “This is about plagiarism and manipulating numbers, not a box-office rivalry. No one dares to speak out for fear of losing work, but I’ve established my own position in this industry.”

Tell her that people speculate that she only gets films because of her husband, to which she responds, “T-Series produces 40 films a year; I am not cast in those. If they were pushing (backing) me, like Karan does for his gang, I would be doing more films...”