Filmmaker Vasan Bala has deactivated his X account days after he was targeted by trolls for defending the box-office failure of his most recent release, Jigra. Though the Alia Bhatt-starrer underperformed at the ticket window, Bala insisted in an interview that he doesn’t treat the box office as a parameter of success.

The filmmaker’s X account disappeared on Sunday, sparking speculation among social media users about the reason behind the move. The filmmaker had been sharing posts and replying to comments until a day earlier. While some users slammed the filmmaker for not accepting the film’s failure, others rushed to his defence, arguing that he alone should not be singled out for the film’s poor reception.

After screengrabs of his ‘absent’ profile were shared on Reddit, one user commented, “They promoted it as an Alia Bhatt aka Lady Bachchan movie but wanted him only to take the responsibility for its failure.” Some also pointed fingers at Karan Johar, one of the producers of the film, noting that during the promotions, Bhatt and actor Vedang Raina had been at the forefront along with Johar. But after the film failed to impress the audience, Bala was the only one giving interviews.