What's Behind
Vijay Devarakonda's Liger which marks his Bollywood entry is releasing on August 25, 2022 across the world. the film directed by Puri Jagannath has been promoted rigorously and the presence of boxing champion Mike Tyson increased the curiosity levels. Bollywood beauty Ananya Pandey is the female lead. Let us find out whether Vijay Devarakonda Vaat Laga Diya with Liger at the box office.
Story Review
The story is all about how a poor lad raised in the slums goes on to win the national and internal martial arts championship. Balamani (Ramyakrishna), the mother of Liger (Vijay Devarakonda), dreams of making her son raise his dad Balaram's aim of winning the national martial arts championship. Balamani and Liger land in Mumbai to raise their dreams. Liger who is an expert in martial arts undergoes Jeet Kun Do training under the instructor (Ronit Roy). Liger however gets distracted by Tanya (Ananya Pandey), the sister of his rival gang Sanjay Sahu (Vishu). When their love story is about to blossom Tanya gets to know the secret of Liger. To find out what is Liger's secret and the twists and turns in his journey to success, enjoy Liger on the big screen.
Artists, Technicians Review
The story of a slumdog conquering the world in sports and overcoming all the adversaries is nothing new. Puri Jagannath's Liger story is no different. The only thing is he showcased his hero suffering from stammering problems. This generated interest initially and the initial scenes set the stage for the bigger challenges. The coach Ronit Roy refusing to train and then testing Vijay Devarakonda and then giving a green signal are routine. Ananya Pandey's entry and scenes slow down the tempo and impact the film in a big way.
The pace slows down considerably with predictable scenes between Vijay Devarakonda, Ramya Krishna, and Ananya Pandey. In between songs come from nowhere signaling the downfall and there one understands that Puri Jagannath has no story to tell and he is just beating around the bush. The end of the first half comes as a relief but viewers still hoped that the second half turns better as they await the entry of boxing legend Mike Tyson and the action sequences of mixed martial arts. But their expectations turned out to be false as the action sequences with the lady villains and the martial arts fights in the ring and Ramya Krishna's expressions and dialogues turn out to be caricaturish and amateurish. People get excited when Mike Tyson appears on the screen. But within minutes, people will be seen cursing Puri Jagannath for giving such a role to the legend and insulting him completely. Finally, the film ends with the so-called Pushpa like- climax and it disappoints everyone.
Puri Jagannath turned out to be the main villain for Liger as it has no story and the screenplay and direction turned out to be atrocious. Puri Jagannath is known for routine commercial entertainer but he scored hits highlighting the emotions. But Liger missed everything and surprising that Puri and Vijay despite having so much time turned out to be so overconfident.
Vijay Devarakonda slipped into the role effortlessly. He once again showed his acting prowess and justified that he is a versatile actor. Vijay Devarakonada impresses with his expressions and emotions and he worked hard to show his dancing skills. He enacted high-octane stunts with ease. But all his effort and makeover turned out to be nothing as the story turned out to be extremely weak. Even at times, one gets a feeling that Vijay Devarakonda is doing roles that are turning out to be monotonous. In this film, he got limited dialogue and the stutter and stammer are ok to some extent but later irritated viewers.
Ananya Pandey for all her hot looks and glamor treat in the film failed to make an impact. Vijay Devarakonda and Ananya Pandey's on-screen chemistry did not create any magic. In fact, their romantic track turned out to be the weak link in the film. Ramya Krishna played the role of Vijay Devarakonda's mother and she is ok in her role but in the second half and at times she went overboard.
Boxing Legend Mike Tyson played an important role. But his role turned out to be a caricature and an insult to his statue. Wonder why Mike Tyson agreed to do this film. Others like Ronit Roy, Vishnu Reddy, Ali, Makarand Desh Pandey, and Getup Srinu performed according to their roles.
Songs are shot lavishly and in the backdrop of extravagant sets. All the songs acted as the speed breakers dragging back the already non-existing story. Sunil Kashyap's background music is in sync with the storyline and there is much to talk about it. The editing of Junaid Siddique is ok and he cannot be faulted as the story is routine and predictable and dragged to the end and he is just helpless. Production values are good.
Advantages
Vijay Devarakonda
Disadvantages
Everything
Routine Story
Screenplay, Direction
Songs
Rating Analysis
Vijay Devarakonda known for his attitude teamed with Puri Jagannath known for his mass entertainers and came with Liger. The film came up with the tagline Saala Crossbreed. Truly it turned out to be the crossbreed of all the mass films and in the end, the crossbreed instead of gaining the strength of Tiger and Lion as promoted by the makers, however, inherited all the weaknesses. Liger Waat or Aag Nahi Lagaya instead Pani Dal Diya. If one decides to come up with a crossbreed of all the films, the result will be like Liger with a weak story, screenplay, and direction. Saala box-office Duba Diya. Considering all these aspects, Cinejosh goes with a 2 rating for Liger.