Getting an audience to detest a movie villain isn’t difficult. People are cynical; all they want is someone to project their frustrations on. But getting the same viewers to genuinely empathise with the protagonist of your film isn’t as easy as it might seem. It requires them to lower their guards and shed their egos; to allow moments of vulnerability in the presence of absolute strangers. Most of all, it requires them to ignore the objectively lunatic act of developing a connection with a made-up person, as if they are real. But Vasan Bala has cracked the code in Jigra — a film that pulls off this almost impossibly difficult feat by getting you, the viewer, to participate in the grandest act of collective empathy crafted on a Bollywood screen this year.

Will the real ‘Jigra’ please stand up? In Vasant Bala’s film, Vedang Raina might be portraying the titular character, but it’s Alia Bhatt, who is the heart and soul of the film. Turns out she is a shield not just for her brother, but also for the movie, even as the revenge thriller rests too heavily on Bhatt.

Agneepath plays on the aircraft entertainment system, that telling scene of a young Vijay Dinanath Chauhan burning down a petrol pump being a visual allegory of a similar incident perpetrated by the protagonist in Jigra a few moments ago. This is just one instance. Throughout the runtime of Jigra, Amitabh Bachchan pops up as idea and inspiration, set-up and syntax. When Satya (Alia Bhatt), caught in a situation which may end in violence, is gently warned: “Abhi Bachchan nahin bann na hain… sirf bachke nikalna hain”, she rolls up her sleeves and says matter-of-factly: “Ab toh Bachchan hi bann na hain”.

Movies can shape us in silly but significant ways. Growing up in the 1990s, for instance, I developed an irrational and premature fear of foreign travel. This had little to do with any growing awareness of geopolitical realities and everything to do with a schlocky Bollywood film starring Sridevi and Sanjay Dutt. Directed by Mahesh Bhatt, Gumrah (1993) — a jailbreak drama set between Mumbai and Hong Kong — was shivery B-movie fun, and it left me with an enduring anxiety. If I clutched my cabin luggage a little too cautiously on my first international flight, nervously looking over my shoulders, I had Bhatt and the duplicitous face of Rahul Roy to thank.

भारत से अमीर परिवार के दो लड़के एक बिज़नेस ट्रिप पर एक छोटे-से देश में गए हैं। वहां एक लड़के की जेब से ड्रग्स मिलती है और इल्ज़ाम दूसरे लड़के पर आ जाता है। उस देश में इस अपराध की एक ही सज़ा है-मौत। लेकिन उस लड़के की बहन आ पहुंची है उसे बचाने। कानून का सहारा उसके काम नहीं आता तो वह जेल तोड़ने का इरादा कर लेती है। तोड़ पाती है वह जेल? बचा पाती है अपने भाई को? कैसे करेगी वह इतना बड़ा काम?

Drawing inspiration from Dharma Productions’ own film Gumraah (1993), which was itself influenced by the miniseries Bangkok Hilton (1989), Jigra features Alia Bhatt in the lead role of a prison-break drama. The original source material was not particularly strong; in the earlier film, Sanjay Dutt portrayed a hero rescuing his beloved Sri Devi from a Hong Kong prison, whereas in this adaptation, the narrative shifts to a brother-sister dynamic where the sister must save her brother.

The clock’s ticking for Satya (Alia Bhatt) in Vasan Bala’s Jigra. Her brother Ankur (Vedang Raina) is on death row in an island nation called Hanshi Dao (a fictitious version of Singapore), and she’s just gotten news that the date of his execution has been expedited for an attempted jailbreak. What was supposed to happen in a few weeks, will now happen in a few days. We see her face computing all possible ploys as fast as she can, and then deciding on a plan of action. It’s not going to be pretty, an accomplice warns, but she’s already made up her mind. The accomplice backs out, telling Satya that she’ll be on her own. “I never said I was a hero. I’ll understand if you don’t wish to join me,” she says, “but don’t get in my way.”