‘Liger’ Honest Review: This One’s a Crossbreed Between Unbearable and Annoying

I am convinced my boss hates me. Why else would she ask me to review this cringefest?

'Liger' starring Ananya Panday and Vijay Deverakonda has released in theatres now.

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

1. I am certain Liger is written by someone stuck in the early 2000s. It is the story of a man who wants to compete in the World Championship of MMA (Mixed martial arts). He does this to fulfill his mother’s wish, under the guidance of a very strict coach who specifically asks him to stay away from girls and not lose his focus. Our hero falls in love with a woman who is way too rich and out of his league, and also finds himself in a rivalry with her brother who is set out to kill him. If this isn’t a textbook cliché story, I don’t know what is.

2. Liger (Vijay Deverakonda) is the perfect hero, but he has one seemingly huge flaw. He stammers. And the writers don’t let you forget this. How, you ask? By ridiculing his stammer over and over again. Not once, not twice but THROUGHOUT the film. We get it. He has a speech disorder. You don’t have to convey it through 50 different variations of crass jokes!

3. Tanya (Ananya Panday) leaves Liger the second she finds out he has a stammer. When do you suppose she found out? After they first met? When they had their first conversation? When they started dating? Nope, nope, and nope! She finds out right before she was about to elope with him! Ya ya, I get it, I shouldn’t pick apart a film so much, but I have literally nothing else to say about Tanya, because there is literally nothing else that she has done! Not being mean, just stating facts.

4. So Chunky Panday plays the role of a rich man who sponsors Liger’s trip to Las Vegas so he can compete in the MMA Championship. Honestly, seeing Chunky Panday as anything else other than Aakhri Pasta is just something I cannot accept. God, I'm such a Gen-Z.

5. Okay, this movie has its moments. Whenever Vijay is fighting villains or saying something that is even slightly humorous, the theatre erupts into cheer and laughter. This was the first movie I watched since the lockdown that was an almost full-house and I’d almost forgotten how great it felt. We’ve all gotten too used to OTT!

6. This movie might be sad for us, but it's sadder for someone else-- Mike Tyson. He must be so excited for a Bollywood debut... and for it to turn out like this... so sad! In a fight sequence, Liger literally calls Tyson "takla" (bald). I just want to ask-- has somebody told Tyson what the word actually means? Mike Tyson might have many regrets in his decades-long career, but I'm sure this makes it to the top 5!

7. My theory about this film being written by someone stuck in the early 2000s is proving right as the film progresses. Tanya is an influencer, and in a discussion with her friends about increasing engagement, she asks them to come up with “innovative ideas” by thinking of new hashtags, captions, and a bio… Yep. Only someone who isn’t from this decade will talk about social media like this. Again, not to nitpick at Tanya’s character, but I don’t have a lot to work with in the first place.

8. If Liger was a food, it would be paneer butter masala. But without the paneer. Because all this film has is masala! It’s fun to watch, but don’t think you’ll be enlightened or learn something from it.

9. Liger is a chaiwalla who loves his country and is brought up by a really strong mother; one that he's very fond of. So if Liger were to get into politics instead of martial arts, this movie would have been a biopic, right?

10. I am thankful about one thing though. Liger might be illogical, but it’s at least not Arjun Reddy. Because God knows we don’t need more of that. I’d pick a brainless watch over a misogynistic one any day, so I guess Liger isn’t that bad after all (the bar is so low it’s six feet under the ground).