Liger starring Vijay Deverakonda in the lead role has hit the silver screens today. Let’s see how it fares.
Story: With a dream to become international MMA champion, Liger( Vijay Deverakonda) from Karimnagar lands in Mumbai along with his mother Bala Mani( Ramya Krishnan). Soon after landing in the beach city, the mother-son duo approaches Mixed Martial Arts coach Kristopher (Ronit Roy) to train Liger. In the process, Liger gets connected to Taniya( Ananya Panday). Later, Liger faces humiliation due to his stammering. Overtaking all the hurdles, how Liger makes it big, forms the main USB.
On-screen performances: Vijay Deverakonda’s hardwork is visible on screen. The physical transformation he went through for the role is stunning and his screen presence brings depth to a couple of action blocks. Acting-wise, Vijay tried his best to live in the role but the stammering didn’t suit him.
Ramya Krishnan gets a purposeful role but her character is not designed in an effective manner. Heroine Ananya Panday’s role is limited to a couple of a scenes in the first half. Vishnu Reddy’s role is just okay.
Hollywood boxing champion Mike Tyson is wasted as his came role has not proper establishment. Actor Rohit Roy is okay in his role as MMA coach.
Technicalities: The cinematography work by Vishnu Sharma is okay as he tried to showcase the locations in the USA on a colourful note.
Editing by Junaid Siddiqui fails to register. The background score composed by Sunil Kashyap is okay. Songs composed by various musicians are completely disappointing.
Production design work is good and so is the case with the production values.
Analysis: Director Puri Jagannadh lost his judgement and has been taking things for the past few years. Now, this film also proves the same. While the story is decent and establishes the dream of a underdog, Puri’s execution is completely disappointing.
Except for a couple of elevation shots on Vijay Deverakonda, Puri completely ignored the film which is clear visible while watching. To summerize, Liger has stunning screen presence from Vijay Deverakonda but Puri’s direction and aimless screenplay come as a major defect for the movie.
Verdict: Out of focus!!!
Rating: 1.5/5
