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‘Liger’ looks to end first week at ₹18 crore

Written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, the film has been co-produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions.
‘Liger’ looks to end first week at  ₹18 crore
Liger stars Vijay Deverakonda alongside Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishna, and Ronit Roy in pivotal roles.

Last Updated: 04.19 PM, Sep 02, 2022

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The Hindi version of action drama Liger is looking to end its first week with box office collections of 18 crore, after having made Rs. 15 crore at last count, according to trade website Box Office India. Written and directed by Puri Jagannadh, the film has been co-produced by Karan Johar’s Dharma Productions and stars Vijay Deverakonda alongside Ananya Panday, Ramya Krishna, and Ronit Roy in pivotal roles. Trade experts estimate the film may not even recover 30% of its investment.

Given the existing popularity of the dubbed versions of Telugu films like Pushpa and RRR in the Hindi-speaking belt, theatres were hoping Liger would build on the wave. Deverakonda is known in north India thanks to his controversial romantic drama Arjun Reddy, that is available in both Hindi and Telugu on OTT and the film had released in Hindi, Tamil and Malayalam apart from Telugu. Deverakonda had been touring the country to carry out a massive promotional campaign including in small north Indian towns over the past few weeks and while his draw in the southern belts was proven, trade experts were hoping the action film with much appeal for the youth could manage some earnings even in the northern belt.

To be sure, some trade experts had pointed out that not every southern film has been able to make a mark in the Hindi belt and the brouhaha around RRR, Pushpa and KGF often doesn’t take into account the likes of Vikram, Valimai and Beast that didn’t even manage openings.

Further, this was Deverakonda’s first release in the northern belt and unlike Allu Arjun, he doesn’t feature among the top stars of Telugu cinema and instead, is seen as a younger, more offbeat face. In the run-up to the release, there had also been calls for boycott of the film on social media thanks to Johar’s involvement and after a clip from director Jagannadh’s old film iSmart Shankar surfaced, which was accused of romanticising sexual assault.

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