Ananya Panday's criticism of Arjun Reddy is met with a retort from Vijay Deverakonda, who admits they discussed it after Koffee with Karan

Following Ananya Panday's criticism of the gender issues of the Vijay Deverakonda film Arjun Reddy on Koffee with Karan, Vijay disclosed that he had a chat with his Liger co-star. In a recent interview, Vijay stated that they had a conversation following which Ananya highlighted that her criticism of Arjun Reddy had received positive feedback online. Vijay expressed his gratitude for Ananya for speaking out and his willingness to consider other viewpoints. He claimed in an interview with Bollywood Hungama that he frequently engages in arguments for pleasure only.

Vijay commented, “I didn’t know what was happening. She mentioned that people seem to like her take, her very honest opinion on the film while I was next to her. But then, she is comfortable talking and I am really open to opinions. I love listening to people’s opinions. I don’t disregard anybody. If you feel this way, good. There must be a reason you feel this way. I may not agree with you or see both sides of the coin but I am glad she spoke what she thought.”

Ananya then quickly added, ““It never even crossed my mind that Vijay would take offence to it because he is not really that kind of a person. I feel that I can share any sort of opinion in front of him and he has been very open to all of it. So I never felt he would have a problem with it.”

On Koffee with Karan season 7, the two actors made an appearance together, where Vijay was questioned on the ruckus Arjun Reddy had caused. He acknowledged that it might be disturbing to an individual who has experienced domestic abuse, but he said that the movie is neither "misogynistic nor anti-feministic."

Liger, which is directed by Puri Jagannadh and has Vijay and Ananya as the leads, will also be Vijay's Bollywood debut. The movie, which opens in theatres on August 25, also features Mike Tyson, Ronit Roy, and Ramya Krishnan.