Liger review: The loud action movie is not worth the hype

Hyderabad: Vijay Deverakond and Ananya Pandey's 'Liger' hit the screens on 25 August after a long wait. Here's what it looks like.

Story:

A youngster named Liger (Vijay Deverakonda) with a stammering problem and his mother Balamani (Ramyakrishna) come to Mumbai from Karimnagar. Balamani who lost her husband in a boxing championship decides to make her son an MMA champion. Liger gets training from Christopher master (Ronit Roy) to make his way to the MMA Nationals. Balamani runs a tea stall and works hard to make a living. Then comes Taniya (Ananya Pandey), a social media freak who falls in love with Liger.

Liger comes to know that his girlfriend is the sister of Sanju, his rival in the ring. When she comes to know that Liger has a stammering problem, she leaves him without a second thought. While his guru and mother warn him to stay away from girls and focus on the game, Liger doesn't heed the warnings. He is now an emotionally broken fighter who still dreams of making it big in life.

Will Liger realise his mistake and work hard to make his mother's dream come true? What this young man from the slums of Mumbai goes through in his journey to the international championship forms the crux of the story.

Review

Ramyakrishna is the star of the film. She plays a strong mother who can turn the world upside down if something happens to her son. At the same time, she is strict and doesn't forgive Liger for his silly mistakes. She is the perfect choice for Balamani, a widow who dreams big for her child.

Vijay Deverakonda is the only plus point of the film. His transformation, his stammer, and his performance in the boxing ring will make you jump from your seat as you watch him. It is evident that he worked very hard to get into the shoes of Liger.

Ali, Getup Srinu, Ronit Roy and Chunky Pandey play pivotal roles in the film and have done a good job.

Ananya Pandey's scenes are a waste of time, money, and hard work. She has nothing to do in the film except dance in a couple of songs. There is no scope for performance (that was least expected though). She plays the daughter of a rich businessman who doesn't pay loans which leads to the kidnapping of his daughter. At a point, you will realise that she was chosen for the role of Taniya because Taniya doesn't have any role in Liger's life. No versatile and popular actresses would have said yes to this role.

Let's talk about Mike Tyson now. He doesn't deserve the kind of role he's been offered. An international boxing champion getting beaten by a so-called pan India star Vijay Deverakonda is not fair. Besides these bitter facts, watching him on screen was nothing less than exciting for the audiences.

This Puri Jagannadh directorial is entertaining in bits and pieces. The film has a good, gripping and entertaining first half while the second half is boring, predictable, and routine cinema where the hero goes to save the heroine leaving his career behind. This was not expected from Puri Jagannadh though.

The film is worth watching only for two people—Ramyakrishna and Vijay Deverakonda.