Liger Movie Review: Vijay Deverakonda delivers a seeti maar performance but plot ne dimaag ki waat laga di

Film: Liger

Director: Puri Jagannadh

Star cast: Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy

Bollywood Bubble ratings: 2.5/5 stars

Liger Movie review: 

This time, I watched Liger, first day first show and oh boy, the response from the audience was quite enthralling. Fans were whistling and hooting the moment they saw Vijay Deverakonda in his best elements. In fact, a fan next to my seat was screaming so much, that my ears started to hurt. The film starts on a high note but the climax falls flat on its face. I really don’t want to bash Liger in this review but I’ll try my best to be nice to this movie. First – all the action sequences look absolutely thrilling and well choreographed. Second – when it comes to the story, is poorly and abysmally written. Third- the songs are pretty groovy but misplaced in the entire movie. In fact, they look quite forced to me.

Fourth- the climax looks absurd as if someone just hit the pause button and closed the window. It looks a little childish. Fifth- Ananya Panday and Vijay Deverakonda’s chemistry looks broken and faulty. I didn’t feel like watching them more. Sixth- Once again going to talk about the fights because they really enticed me. Given the fact that I absolutely enjoy action, the MMA fight sequence is my favourite in the entire movie. Similar fights were shown in Dharma Productions’ Brothers starring Sidharth Malhotra and Akshay Kumar as well as in YRF’s Sultan which I thoroughly enjoyed. Well, I have a similar feeling with Liger as well.

Story: 

A story about martial arts, dreams and star-crossed lovers. Liger is an MMA fighter who trains hard and rises up the ranks with one goal in mind, to fight like his idol, world-renowned MMA fighter Mark Anderson and get noticed by him. In the course, he falls in love with a girl name Tanya and breaks his heart which only leads to achieving his goals. But will he achieve his goals? Does he become the ultimate champion? Well, that is what the Liger movie is all about.

 

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A post shared by Vijay Deverakonda (@thedeverakonda)

Star Performances: 

Vijay Deverakonda makes his big Bollywood debut with Liger. He essays the role of an MMA fighter who rises up from the ashes and creates a name for himself. Talking about his performance, as Ananya quotes in the film, Vijay delivers a full ‘paisa vasool’ and a ‘seeti maar’ performance. He shines in all the fighting scenes as if the MMA fighter fire has always been ignited in him and now he got the platform to showcase that in full glory. Since I enjoy MMA fighting and WWE, I was thoroughly enjoying his fighting sequences. Even though I don’t watch MMA fighting or WWE closely, Vijay quite adapted the techniques and fighting style nicely if not perfectly. It’s been done beautifully. Vijay is shown as a stammer and to be honest, in some parts, it seems like he is trying hard to make it look natural but comes out quite abruptly. In fact, in one scene, he speaks so fluently that I was wondering did the director or the actor forget that the character is a stammer.

Ananya Panday essays the role of the spoiled brat named Tanya who is a big shot and wants to become a huge social media influencer. She has a brief role and plays her part well but her character was crassly written. In fact, to be honest, I don’t even see the point of Ananya’s character in the movie, she has nothing to offer neither in the story nor with her acting skills. At some parts, it seems like the director just wants to remind the audience that Ananya is a part of the film as her role is so brief.

The two characters or I would say the actors who absolutely stole the limelight after Vijay are Ronit Roy and Ramya Krishnan. Ronit as his coach is tough and delivers a strong performance while Ramya brings out her Sivagami stance and poise in the film. Her big expressive eyes and strong dialogue delivery will surely remind you of Baahubali’s Sivagami but I like how she adds the fun element to this character.

Mike Tyson, the iconic boxer makes a cameo in Liger and oh boy, what a waste. His cameo was a dud and not impressive at all.

 

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A post shared by Ananya ?? (@ananyapanday)

Direction/screenplay:

I really don’t have many complaints about the direction but it is the screenplay that was problematic. First of all, I feel the plot is quite lethargic. It seems like the director Puri Jagannadh who is also the writer of the film has written the film in the most disinteresting way possible. From the character sketch to the plot, oh wait, there’s no story in Liger. If the man wants to be the best International champion, show his journey, his struggle and his achievements instead of him dancing on the beach and in pubs with a girl who doesn’t seem relevant to the story as well. I’m sure Vijay could have easily carried this film on his shoulder, no offence, Ananya.

In order to add commercial value to the film, Jagannadh seems to have lost his way to write a good story. Yes, there are some dialogues and scenes that will surely make you whistle but someone like me who really enjoys a movie with a good story didn’t get that in this masala-loaded film.

The other thing that really bothered me is the placement of songs. Some are really unwanted, there are some that just start in the middle of the scene, disrupting the continuity of the film. I was like why is there a song? As a matter of fact, the song placement was pretty disturbing.

Conclusion: 

In totality, Vijay Deverakonda looks absolutely dashing with his long locks and chiselled body. He shines in all the fighting scenes as this character was tailor-made for him. Vijay, Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy and the ring fights are the only good thing that I enjoyed in the film, rest ne dimaag ki waat laga di. Lazy writing, weak story and poor execution don’t make Liger a delightful watch. Nevertheless, if you’re a Vijay, I can see you dancing to his every swag and his every killer dance move. You’re definitely in for a treat but if you’re like me who is looking for a good story, powered by good performance, it might disappoint you.

Watch the Liger trailer after the review here:

Also read: Vijay Deverakonda on Boycott Liger trend: Andar aag hai, Kaun rokenge dekh lenge