What: Vijay Devarakonda is carrying a massive craze in the country. The manner in which he was received during the promotions of Liger across the country proved it all. He is making his Hindi debut with Liger which has been produced by Charmee Kaur and Karan Johar.
The film is directed by Puri Jagan, the star director and has been released in multiple languages.
Let's see whether Vijay lives up to the hype created or not.
Liger movie story
Balamani (Ramya Krishna) is a single mother who comes to Mumbai with her fighter son Liger (Vijay Devarakonda). Her only aim is to see her son become the national MMA boxing champion. She takes Liger to a coach (Ronit Roy) who does not show interest in a stammering Liger. But after a while, he accepts Liger and trains him. Amidst all this, Liger falls for Tanya(Ananya Pandey) who later cheats him for good. Liger gets upset but his mother pushes him to go for the ultimate goal of winning the boxing championship. The rest of the plot is about how Liger gathers momentum in life and even wins the international championship in the USA.
Liger Telugu movie review
By the promos itself, we can understand that Liger is the story of a poor guy who dreams big. Such stories are nothing new for us. But Puri Jagan gives it a twist by adding a stammer issue to the hero and even creating an issue out of it in the interval point. But after a point the same stammering act gets irritating as it makes the proceedings slow.
The love track in the film is rushed and does not have much romance or fun. Puri Jagan takes a very easy route to establish character. Even a poor boy going to the US to participate in the competition through Chunkey Pandey looks over the top and happens in no time. But where Puri succeeds is maintaining moments which are massy. The dialogues mouthed by Vijay and his scenes with Mike Tyson are fun. Speaking of Mike Tyson, his cameo is endearing but does not help the storyline and ends the film on an abrupt note.
On the other hand, what happens in the second half is that all the expectations come true. The story has absolutely no twists and the one showcased through Ananya Pandey is not great. It makes one think about the movie’s point in the first place. If it’s a sports drama with a love story, then it is almost over within the first half an hour itself. But, then Puri brings in the heroine kidnapping thread and Mike Tyson episode to burn the rest of the second half added only to create interest for the audience.
Also, Puri fails to explore the backdrop of MMA properly. The training is over during a montage song. The high which comes out of the ‘sport’ is entirely missing here. Everything is flat and rushed. In a nutshell, Liger has a weak story but Vijay Devarakonda shines through his sincere performance. Songs are amazing and the mass moments will be liked by a section.
Performance
Vijay Devarakonda is a gifted actor and he proves it once again with Liger. Not only does he has to undergo into the physical transformation to play an MMA fighter, he needs to get the stammering act right as well.
His transformation is superb and looks the part but it is the stammering act which is a bit of an obstacle. One gets a feeling that the stammering act could have been avoided by Puri Jagan.
Ananya Pandey gets a good role and she as the rich girl who is mad about social media is impressive. Though her role looks half baked, it is given justice by the end.
Ronit Roy as the box coach does not get to do much in the film apart from appearing in key scenes.
Ramya Krishna is powerful as Vijay's mother and shows intensity through her eyes. Her track with her son is executed well.
The special attraction, Mike Tyson was at his wittiest best in the film. He does comedy and also engages the audience with his screen presence.
Technical Aspects
When it comes to music, multiple composers have provided music for Liger. They don’t have the Puri Jagannadh hit music appeal in Telugu, audio-wise. But trendy on-screen filming and coming in short bursts offer relief. Sunil Kashyap’s background is okay in parts, even on predictable lines.
Vishnu Sarma’s cinematography is neat. The visuals and the production values give Liger a biggie appeal that must be seen on the big screens. The editing by Junaid Siddique could have been better. Ananya has been styled well and the local Mumbai setup has been showcased well in the film. The dialogues are okay as the punch lines we expect from Puri's films are missing in Liger.
Final words
Liger is a film which could have been emotional and action packed but it ends up being a so-so affair which will only be loved by the masses. The film will open big and the long holiday weekend will also help it. Only time will tell as to how the film will be lapped up by the general audience.
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