Liger

Cine-goers call Vijay Deverakonda starrer ‘wahiyat film of the year’, ‘waste of money’. Liger marks the debut of South star Vijay Deverakonda in Hindi and pan-India with the star director, Puri Jagannath. I wish it hadn’t happened. Liger is even more weird than its title. It has no meaning at all, just like its title. The film starts off with no sense and ends up with no sense. What a great consistency! Vijay Deverakonda was serious when he said Watt Laga Denge.. Absolutely Vaat laga di film ki. Basically, Liger has no story, but the basic story is about a crossbreed, Liger (Vijay Deverakonda). Liger is an MMA fighter who trains hard and rises through the ranks with one goal in mind—to fight like his idol, world-renowned MMA fighter Mark Anderson (Mike Tyson), just as his mother, Balamani (Ramya Krishnan), wishes. He falls in love with an aspiring model-cum-social media influencer, Taniya (Ananya Panday). This love might prevent him from achieving his goals, and his mother and coach ask him to stay away from Taniya. Will he be successful in doing so, or will there be a reconciliation? Love or Passion, what wins at the end? Liger will give you all the answers.

Talking about performances (if there are any), Vijay Deverakonda stammers, and stammers in acting too. What was the intention here? It was to make him look real or fake? because most of the time it looked artificial and forceful. Ananya Panday‘s Taniya will have you meet real social media influencers with absurd accents. Was she real or was she acting? One can’t tell the difference because even overacting has some limits. Ramya Krishnan as Balamani repeats the same performance she gave as Sivagaami in Bahubali. But she forgot that Liger is set in the contemporary era and not in ancient eras like Bahubali. The roar and screams will make your ears bleed. Legend Mike Tyson makes his debut in Indian cinema, only to get trolled. How did he even say Yes to this crappy role? Did he enjoy being insulted? The supporting cast adds more to the overall gruesomeness, and you’re like, done and dead. Liger has music, but what it has got to do with situations is a bigger puzzle than why did Katappa kill Bahubali? Akdi Pakdi has massy beats but a non-fitting situation. Better call it an illogical song that has been put in the film only to extend the runtime and, for that matter, your boredom. Aafat is a big aafat for the music lovers but a pleasure to eyes as Vijay and Ananya‘s super hot looks kill the other germs. Liger’s editing lacks basic sense. If you want to disappoint the audience, at least do it with a short runtime. Why take 140 minutes? Those dialogues were written in the 80s but used in 2022.

Puri Jagannath is a star director with multiple hits to his name, so one can have moderate expectations. Liger brings the star down on earth. Just don’t ask how low. Puri Jagannath would want Liger to vanish from his filmography otherwise it will remain as a big black spot, aka Kalank. And who else knows better about Kalank other than Dharma Productions? Did you get the point now? I hope, Yes. Liger is one of those films which makes you feel like ‘wanna go home soon’ or ‘want my money back’. Do you want to feel that? If yes, then watch Liger. If No, then watch Lions and Tigers on Discovery Channel or Cartoon Network. It is worth more than Liger.

Genres: Action, Sports

Director: Puri Jagannadh

Cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishnan, Mike Tyson, Makarand Deshpande, Ronit Roy