It is a
given that a ‘masala’ movie will not have much philosophical depth, it will offer
us some emotions, some moments of joy, music, dance, and probably a few good
action sequences. Puri Jagannadh’s Liger, a Telugu-Hindi bilingual movie, does have all of this. But the
filmmaker, who is also the screenwriter of this film, makes the entire thing a
complete cringefest. Liger can be best described as a masterclass in how to
make a bad film with a big budget. There is not a single well-written scene in
this 140-minute extravaganza. The acting, including lead actor Vijay Deverakonda’s,
is over the top. Even someone with a proven track record like Makarand
Deshpande is made to toe the line of Jagannadh’s immoderation.

Also Read| 5 best movies of Vijay Deverakonda

When a film
starts with proclaiming that god put women on the earth to make men aware that
there is something called hell, you kind of know what you’re in for. But let’s
begin from the beginning. After the prologue, we see Liger (yes, that is the
name of Deverakonda’s character) and his mother Balamani (Ramya Krishnan) travelling
to Mumbai to start a new life so that the former can achieve his dream of being the national MMA (mixed
martial arts) champion. Liger has a stammer and the only word he can speak at
one go is “fighter”. Both Balamani and Liger’s trainer (played by Ronit Roy.
Jagannadh doesn’t bother with giving the character a name) advise him to stay
away from girls. It is Balamani’s firm belief that most girls are ‘chudails’
(witches) who trap young men and make them lose all direction in life.

Enter Tanya
(Ananya Panday), a social media influencer who falls for Liger after watching
him bash up fellow students at his training centre. Her brother is Sanju (Vishu
Reddy), an MMA fighter himself who also runs a dojo and often squabbles with
Roy’s students. You get the feeling that Sanju and Liger will eventually face
off in a ring and that will be an intense affair. They do face off in the ring
but neither is the fight intense nor memorable because Liger, and Jagannadh, have
bigger fish to fry.

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Jagannadh
doesn’t let a single moment build up or a single emotion take hold of the audience.
He wants to overload you with one thing after another so that you don’t have
time to think. Every dialogue is a punchline and every scene happens out of nowhere.
Panday suddenly wakes up one fine morning and has become a social media
sensation. Liger, inspired by his mother’s words, suddenly starts training and
becomes the national MMA champion within a few minutes. An extravagant dance
number immediately starts after a sad scene and completely throws the audience
off-balance.

One thing
this film does stick to is its misogyny. Liger’s trainer asks him to focus on
his craft and specifies that by focus, the only thing he means is staying away
from girls. Liger’s mother wants him to stay away from girls, and even Liger,
when he encounters a group of women fighters who want to bash him up, asks them
to stop because such behaviour might hamper their
chances of getting married. Jagannadh tries to somewhat salvage the situation at
the end, but it is too late by then.

Also Read| Mumbai to Los Angeles: ‘Liger’ shooting locations

The last two surprise entries (or pegs in
the coffin?) of this film are Chunky Panday and Mike Tyson. Panday is a rich Indian-American businessman and Tyson is Mark Anderson, a former MMA heavyweight champion who
is Liger’s inspiration. Panday’s character is abruptly brought in to solve
Liger’s financial issues when he wants to compete in the international MMA championship.
Watch the film to find out what Tyson’s Mark Anderson is upto.

 When
it comes to the acting, only Ronit Roy’s performance is somewhat grounded.
Deverakonda tries, but he has to be loud in this overblown venture. His Liger
roars, jumps, and throws punches, but is not offered anything meaty to set his
teeth in. Put some cotton in your ears whenever Ramya Krishnan’s Balamani comes on the screen.
She needlessly shouts at the top of her voice in almost every single scene she
is in. Panday only has a limited set of expressions in her kitty, and kind of fits into the flatly written character of Tanya. All the
other characters, including Tyson’s, are essentially glorified props.

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The only
good things about the film are the instrumental number and the animation of the
opening credits. The action and dance choreography are somewhat decent, but the
songs are pretty run-of-the-mill.

All in all,
Liger is a film that takes its audience for granted. The creative team behind
the film thinks the audience will tag along despite not being offered much.
This is a dangerous path to tread, especially in times when world-class content
has become so easy to access via OTT platforms. All the sound and fury Puri Jagannadh
cooks up in his latest venture end up signifying nothing.