After Puri Jagannadh and Charmme appeared before the officials of the Enforcement Directorate, Vijay Deverakonda, the lead actor of Liger has been questioned by the ED officials. He was questioned for 12 hours and Vijay Deverakonda interacted with the media after completing the investigation. “Popularity also brings side effects. This is one among them. It is an experience and I did my duty when I was called. I answered all the questions. I was not asked to come for the questioning again” told Vijay Deverakonda.

The actor is on a break and he will soon resume the shoot of Kushi directed by Shiva Nirvana. The officials of the Enforcement Directorate have been investigating the foreign funds for the film Liger. There are allegations that the investments had political connections after which Puri Jagannadh and Charmme are questioned.

Vijay Deverakonda spent close to three years on Liger and the film has been declared as a dud. During the initial discussions, Puri Jagannadh and Vijay Deverakonda decided to take out mininum remuneration for the film for their expenses and decided to hold a lion’s share in the profits to make big money. Puri Jagannadh made close to Rs 50 crore profits before the release. Karan Johar who joined the team was asked to promote the film and share the profits in the Hindi theatrical release. He never invested a penny but helped the film to get a wide release in North India.

There are speculations that Vijay Deverakonda returned back Rs 6 crores from his remuneration for Liger to compensate the losses of the distributors. There is no truth in the news. Vijay Deverakonda has taken Rs 3 crores as remuneration for the film. He is expected to share the profits after the theatrical business closes. Puri Jagannadh is back to Hyderabad and he is meeting the distributors and financiers who inked deals with him. Puri has to refund close to Rs 40 crores from the profits made. The other expenses and the promotional costs will have to be calculated. Considering all these, Vijay Deverakonda and Puri Jagannadh will make nothing from Liger. It is a wasted effort of three years for the duo who dreamt big on a film.

Vijay Deverakonda and Puri Jagannadh teamed up for the first time and the film Liger is a pan-Indian attempt. Apart from Tollywood, several Bollywood filmmakers were eager about the film to see the real stamina of Vijay Deverakonda. The actor enjoys a terrific fan base across social media and he dethroned several Superstars in no time and emerged as the Most Desirable Man. Liger received a poor response from the audience and the collections dropped big on its second day. The film is a lesson for Indian cinema for many reasons:

Liger is the best example of overhyping a product. Vijay Deverakonda spoke too much during the promotions. His remark of the film starting from Rs 200 crores made him the best target for the trolls. He was over confident on the film and during several occasions, Vijay said that they are ready to create a sensation across the nation with Liger. Films like Sita Ramam and Karthikeya 2 released with minimum buzz and they are declared as blockbusters. If the team of Liger would have maintained low hype, the result would have been different and not disappointing like now.

Pan-Indian release doesn’t mean having known faces of the country. If the film has the right content, it would cater to wider sections. Actors like Ananya Pandey, Ronit Roy are not known for the Tollywood audience. Liger is a blunder casting-wise. The dubbing work was poor and was not taken care of. The lip sync of the most of the actors was not matching.

Ananya Pandey’s work is badly trolled all over. Mrunal Thakur is not a known face for the Tollywood audience. But her portrayal as Sita in Sita Ramam is winning accolades. The actress is now owned by the Telugu audience for her exceptional work. Finding the right actor is the need of the hour. Bollywood actresses would never add buzz for a film if the content is not appealing.

The music of Liger too is a misfire. The songs failed to impress the audience of Bollywood and Tollywood.

Liger is completely presented like a Hindi film and is shot in Mumbai. Telugu audience are left in shock for completely depending on the Bollywood template and style.

Puri Jagannadh picked up a very ordinary script for Liger. His lazy writing ruined the film completely. He is trolled like never before. Ever the die-hard fans of Puri’s work across the industry circles are now discussing about his future.

The film’s content should speak and not the actors. Vijay Deverakonda should promote the film’s content instead of making unusual statements. These damaged Liger big time.

Unfortunately, Liger is heading towards the biggest disaster of Indian cinema.