As per the report, the film has done better in Maharashtra, CP Berar, Bihar and Odisha. The movie has done better in North India also despite no face value.
The film could have done much better in Gujarat and the Gujarat numbers have kept the Mumbai circuit down. Gujarat / Saurashtra is only 30 lakhs nett for the film which is less than East Punjab when it should be much higher. Andhra market will feel its more like a Hindi film while the Hindi circuits will feel like its a South film.
If early box office reports and people's reviews are to be believed, Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Pandey's pan-India film has failed to impress the audience.
Puri Jagannadh's Liger had great advance booking due to the extensive promotional events across the country. However, the film opened largely to negative reviews. The official Twitter handle of Dharma Productions announced that Liger managed to collect ₹33.12 crore on its opening day. Unfortunately, it's a worldwide box office collection.
Backed by Karan Johar's Dharma Productions, the film also stars Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy, and Vishu Reddy.
It revolves around a young guy, Liger (Vijay) and his widowed mother Balamani (Ramya Krishnan), who have come from Telangana to Mumbai because she wants to see her son become a national MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) champion.
Vijay underwent mixed martial arts training in Thailand while he prepared for his character in Liger. The film was shot simultaneously in Telugu and Hindi. Besides Telugu, Vijay has dubbed his lines in Hindi as well. The film marked American boxer Mike Tyson's Bollywood debut as well.
Director Puri Jagannadh had earlier on 25 August said that it is the "best time" to make a pan-India movie and says his latest release "Liger", about the rise of an underdog, is a universal story.
Jagannadh said he had reached out to Deverakonda, star of Telugu films such as "Arjun Reddy" and "Geetha Govindam", back in 2019 with the script of "Liger".
“I am glad 'Liger' happened. This is the best time to be here, there is so much cultural exchange happening. Today any good story clicks with the audience. Our film is not just a regional story."
"It is a universal story about the rise of an underdog. This can be watched in any language. That's when we thought of making it as a pan-India movie with Vijay," the filmmaker had told PTI in an interview.
The director had in 2004 made his Bollywood debut with film "Shart: The Challenge", said he now wants to reunite with his idol Amitabh Bachchan. He had collaborated with the veteran actor on the 2011 movie “Bbuddah... Hoga Terra Baap".
The 55-year-old director said he was looking forward to directing a Hindi-language movie for quite some time but his commitments in the south kept him away.
He also revealed that he was in discussions for an action film with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan a few years ago. Khan had starred in Prabhudheva's 2008 movie “Wanted", the Hindi remake of his 2006 Telugu film “Pokiri".
“I met Salman long back, maybe seven to eight years ago. He had called me at his house and I had spent the whole night at his place. He had told me, ‘Come up with a good script and we will catch up’. There are ideas in action space, let’s see."
The director further revealed that Janhvi Kapoor was the first choice for "Liger" but she was unable to come on board due to scheduling conflicts. Later, Ananya Panday was roped in to play the female lead.
"I am a big fan of Sridevi and that’s why I wanted to do this (film) with Jahnvi but things didn’t work out due to date issues. I will work with her someday," he added.
Getting boxing legend Mike Tyson to star in an extended cameo in "Liger" was a key challenge, according to the director.
After exchanging emails with his team for about a year in 2019, Jagannadh said he still wasn’t sure if the American boxer would arrive on the sets till he came for the shoot in Las Vegas.
“I am a big fan of Mike Tyson. It was a big process to get him. He plays a character in the film. What we see of him on screen is different, he is like a child and easy to work with, unlike his towering personality," he said.
