Liger (2022) Movie Review : Vijay Deverakonda’s talent for earnest acting and charm is insufficient to keep this movie afloat.
Review:
Liger was so anticipated before its release that there were only two outcomes. It might be a big hit or get absolutely crushed. Because the film offers nothing new, beyond Vijay Deverakonda’s muscular body, it’s not difficult to anticipate how it performed.
Director: Puri Jagannadh
Writers: Puri Jagannadh, Prashant Pandey, A.R. Sreedhar
Stars: Mike Tyson, Ananya Panday, Vijay Deverakonda
Liger was so anticipated before its release that there were only two outcomes. It might be a big hit or get absolutely crushed. Because the film offers nothing new, beyond Vijay Deverakonda’s muscular body, it’s not difficult to anticipate how it performed. The sister of his rival Sanju, Vishu, is the only potential hitch in this love story. However, there’s a silver lining: Mark Anderson (Mike Tyson), Liger’s childhood hero, may be able to help in the most bizarre way possible. Despite all of this promising set-up though, sadly, Mindless Commercial Cinema falls flat as a whole. Despite Puri’s numerous flaws, you can’t help but admire his skill at making characters so… ‘ Stupid’, as Mike puts it in one scene, you can’t help but wonder why less intelligent writing wasn’t used. Despite being the sister of a martial artist, Tanya refers to Liger as Chinese for fighting the way he does, refers to his martial art style as “kung fu,” and is shocked when she sees him land kicks. Are we supposed to believe she has never witnessed her own brother battle in a ring or even knows what type of martial art he practices?
Balamani classifies women as beautiful demons who’ll ruin her son’s life, telling him to stay away from them. The writing style of these scenes makes you cringe. While it is good that Puri doesn’t go too far with the misogyny (just a tiny little bit), he can’t help but destroy one well-coordinated fight scene involving women and Ananya’s friends with crude dialogues. Also, why is a professional MMA fighter surprised that 2022 will see krav maga utilized by women?
Taking lack of logic aside, Liger is forgettable because it’s unoriginal. The film follows the same storylines as other sports dramas mixed with commercial cinema – which wouldn’t be an issue if it was done well. Sunil Kashyap’s background score and Vishnu Sharma’s camerawork are stylish, but that didn’t keep my interest for long. While Vijay gives it his all in Akdi Pakdi and Coka 2.0, the songs are thematically out of place in this tale. The other songs fare no better, especially Aafat, and some of the fight scenes are also quite poor. Even Liger’s stammering is used as a cheap plot device rather than explored further.
The main negative aspect of this movie is that it has a weak plot and poor characters. Aside from that, there’s only one good thing about it: Vijay Deverakonda. His phrases, especially since he stammers, may be hit-and-miss, but the actor does bring sincerity to his part. Liger, his personality, is very one-dimensional. The protagonist’s coach and mother have a habit of giving long speeches, which makes you wonder if the character will learn anything new or grow in any way – neither of which ever happen. Despite being from a humble background in Mumbai, doors start opened for him when convenient, making his “struggle” not much to speak of. And yet Vijay is not only handsome but also fit and likable enough that you can’t help but root for him. It’s just unfortunate that the material doesn’t give him more justice.
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Ramya Krishnan plays the mother who is there for her kid. Ananya Panday appears charming, but she has a long way to go in terms of acting. Getup Srinu is entertaining in some parts, despite the stupid dialogue lines given to him. Ali, Ronit Roy, and Vishu are fine actors, although Mike Tyson’s cameo was widely anticipated. That ending isn’t believable, though.
It’s amusing that Liger is required to concentrate numerous times throughout the film, but the script itself lacks it. Things just keep happening without rhyme or reason, and Puri fails to provide a satisfactory conclusion to any of the tracks. Vijay was robbed of something great, and we were not alone. Watt laga diya, according to the filmmakers’ promise; however, this did not occur in a positive way.
