Liger movie review: Vijay Deverakonda is the only good thing about this a-a-action drama

Liger, marks Vijay Deverakonda’s Bollywood debut, and while it could’ve been a mass entertainer, it falls just short. The movie feels menacingly long as one has to sit through some absolutely horrendous scenes and a shoddy plotline.

To give you a gist of what Liger is about, the movie narrates the tale of a kickboxer, out there to strive for his mother’s dream to see him become a superstar in the field of MMA. And well, as one would expect, in the middle of all this, there are the bad guys, a troubled widow trying to make ends meet, and of course, a love interest (Ananya Panday), who eventually becomes the reason for his success. Oh, and there’s also Liger’s stammering, but the one word he doesn’t stammer at? – Fighter!

Twenty minutes into the movie, we see a song appear out of almost nowhere, and the makers turn into a motif throughout. The action sequences in the movie seem to deliver, and of course, there’s that Southern film touch that the movie also boasts of but that’s definitely not the bad thing here. On multiple occasions, watching Liger feels like watching people have a scuffle in a fish market, and it gets annoying how they are all always ready to fight with each other.

The movie has ample moments that make you cringe, including the fights, as well as scenes with Ananya Panday, and a lot of the ones with the boy gang where Ronit Roy teaches. Since we mention Ronit, might as well say that the actor has done a great job, and his role is one that no one could’ve done better – NO ONE!

Moving on, we have Vijay Deverakonda in the titular role, and while I might have not been sure if I’d like him, I would like to give him due credits. He makes the film watchable for most part, if not whole the whole of it,, but everything else seems to be a crash for this movie. Ananya, who often feels like she is playing herself, fails to impress. After her performance in Gehraiyaan, we’d have liked to see more from her. Ramya Krishnan as Vijay’s mother is OTT level max, and it feels like she is a talent wasted here. Mike Tyson, is just there, and he does what he’s to do, mostly for the sake of it.