Was October 2024 the cruelest month for the movie theatres? Hard to say, as each month brings its own share of unparalleled agony at the box office. In terms of output, October was opulently austere. The first week of the month had three OTT releases: Gajendra Ahire’s The Signature, in which Anupam Kher made a shrill pitch for healthcare; Hardik Gajjar’s Amar Prem Ki Kahani, a stilted film about a gay couple with Sunny Singh and Aditya Seal trying hard to look committed; and Vikramaditya Motwane’s CTRL, wherein Ananya Pandey was a digital geek.
The last had some takers, and all the best to them. The second week of October came with some hope to the box office with Vasan Bala’s Jigra and Raaj Shandilya’s Vicky Vidya Wala. Woh Video, alas, all expectations were dashed to the ground.
Jigra deserved better. A clenching, grasping rescue thriller, creating a near-perfect balance between physical and emotional scuffles, director Vasal Bala moved with effortless virility from the quirkiness of Mard Ko Dard Nahin Hota to the lifelike normality of a family crisis double-underlined by a kinetic energy seldom seen in the action films of our country. In brief, Jigra was about tackling grief.
..headlong.
Vicky Vidya Ka WohWala Video was also about tackling grief, the audience's grief. The screenplay, which boasted of four names, seemed to mistake aimless celerity for entertainment. As for the final release of the month, we must applaud Arbaaz Khan for producing Banda Singh Chaudha.