'Liger' movie review: A disastrous sports drama

Liger

Telugu (Theatres)

Director: Puri Jagannadh

Cast:

Rating: 1/5

Liger, by seasoned director Puri Jagannadh, is an attempt to catapult Telugu superstar Vijay Devarakonda to pan-India stardom.

In the run up to the release, the actor had grown into a nation’s heartthrob for his looks and this film is perhaps meant to open up more opportunities in Bollywood for Devarakonda. Karan Johar co-producing the film isn’t a surprise as the Hindi filmmaker, these days, doesn’t miss a chance to capitalise on the wave of big-budget films from South.

Despite the popular names involved, the film falls flat on its face and can become a front runner in the race for the worst film of the year award. Set in Mumbai, Liger, on paper, is about an underdog’s quest to become the best mixed martial arts fighter in the world. But what we get is a film that’s just an excuse for the director to flaunt Devarkonda’s well-toned body.

So dated is the film’s story that film schools must use it as a template to teach budding filmmakers how not to write a plot. Devarakonda plays a tea seller with big dreams but his trouble begins when he falls in love with Tanya (Ananya Pandey), sister of the film’s antagonist Sanju (Vish Reddy), a successful kickboxer. Will the hero realise his dream and also get his love? One would need special talent to not guess the utterly predictable outcome.

Puri’s regressive thoughts are found in plenty in the film. The heroine is vilified for being a distraction in the hero’s journey. If sexism wasn’t enough, Puri’s insensitive ideas shine bright as the film insults people with stuttering problems.

Liger has several hallmarks of Bollywood films, like the terribly-placed songs, disjointed scenes and a female lead with no purpose. It doesn't help further when the performance is as startlingly bad as Ananya Pandey's. It appears as if she takes great efforts to even move an inch of her face as she essays a ridicuously written character of a wannabe social media influencer.

The movie mocks the sports genre and what’s worse is, fighters show strange antics inside the ring, making people squirm in their seats. The legendary Mike Tyson reduced to a caricature is the final nail in the coffin.

Puri had enough room to script a rag-to-riches tale with better imagination. He had the chance to offer us a moving sporting tale that involves the highs and lows of an athlete. There was an option to explore an intense love story filled with many shades. But he took the easy route of serving stale food to his audiences and I am not sure if they will be kind to him.

Vijay Devarakonda has a terrific screen presence. There is no doubt about his range either. He can pull off the softer roles like the ones in 'Pelli Choopulu' (2016) and 'Geetha Govindam' (2018) as convincingly as the intense ones seen in 'Arjun Reddy' (2017) and 'Dear Comrade' (2019). He is a great mix of appearance, talent and terrific on-screen energy. But he appears clueless here because the script fails him. And he gets negative marks for showing faith in the project.

'Liger' is a great example of what happens when you believe an idea to be the script. Puri must have been excited to name his protagonist 'Liger', a crossbreed of his lion-like father and a tigress-like mother (a typically watchable Ramya Krishnan in a done-to-death role). But he hasn't bothered to flesh out a decent story. As a result, the movie is a crossbreed of mediocritiy and datedness.

One scene has remained firmly inside my head from a very forgettable film. The hero plays a game with a bunch of villains. Both parties get to slap each other and the one who remains intact without falling in pain is the winner. Expectedly, the hero wins as he hammers all his opponents. In the world outside 'Liger', it's we, the audience, who are slapped by the film's every outrageously silly plot point till we go numb.

The warning was clear when 'Liger' said 'Waat Laga Denge' but it looks like some of us who expected more from the film weren't listening.