Liger Stars Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday Talk Pre-Release Jitters, Hopes

As Liger readies for its theatrical tryst, Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday have a lot to prove, and plenty on their minds. A conversation with both stars.

Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday in a still from Liger

‘We Should Enjoy Each Other’s Success’

Vijay Deverakonda says attempts to position the success of films from the South Indian movie industries as a threat to Bollywood miss the point.

“Life has taught me many things. The most important one was to never lose hope or be scared,” says Vijay Deverakonda. The 33-year-old Telugu star is in the midst of a whirlwind round of promotions for Liger which releases in a day’s time. Directed by Puri Jagannadh and produced by Dharma Productions, Liger sees Deverakonda share screen space with Ananya Panday and Ramya Krishnan.

The star is speaking about his resilience because of the #BoycottLigerMovie campaign that’s picked up steam on social media as his film’s release nears. He’s unafraid, he says, simply because he’s struggled so much in the past to get to his present position. “I saw the struggle for money and respect, then I had to struggle for finding my space in this world. When my first film was released, I had no producer so we randomly raised money and did acting for free. The film did well and people started showing love,” says Deverakonda, who made his debut in 2011 with the Ravi Babu directed Nuvvila.

“When Arjun Reddy was released, there was a section that opposed the film, but it became a superhit,” he continues. “Then came the time when a few of my films got leaked days before the release and there was a certain group on social media who started [talking about] how bad these films are and that I would fail as an actor. But again, when the films were released, I received so much appreciation,” he told this correspondent.

With so many hard knocks on the way to success, Deverakonda says he’s ready for any challenge. “I am ready to fight because I have worked on this picture with full honesty and I think that truthfulness will reap benefits,” he avers. As filmmaker Nag Ashwin once advised him, Deverakonda believes that work is worship, and as long as you do it wholeheartedly, the universe will take care of other things. He wasn’t scared when he had nothing, so why would he start now, he asks. “I have my mother’s blessings, the love of my fans, god is with me, and there is a fire inside me,” Deverakonda says, enumerating all the reasons he feels unstoppable.

It’s a great time to be an actor and make films for the country, according to Deverakonda. Even with the “boycott” hashtags and the Bollywood versus rest of Indian movie business narrative? “I have performed every function in the film industry so I know how important it is for a film to get business at the box office,” he explains. “When the film industry works, the whole economy flourishes and that’s something I celebrate. I think we all should enjoy each other’s success because, at the end of the day, we all are from the same country, chasing big dreams. Someone doesn’t need to fail for us to succeed: we can all succeed together.”

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‘I Am Hopeful I’ll Win Everyone Over One Day’

Ananya Panday knows there’s no way to beat the nepotism tag, other than by working hard and making the most of every opportunity.

As the daughter of actor Chunkey Panday, and with her Bollywood pedigree, the conversation around Ananya Panday tends to be about her privilege. The nepotism discourse proved difficult to shrug off even when she delivered a riveting performance in Shakun Batra’s Gehraiyaan. But Panday believes a time will come when this baggage will stop overshadowing her credibility as an actor.

“For me, as a person, it's one step at a time and the fact that [my acting] gets a little better every time proves that,” she says, when we meet during her round of public appearances for Liger in which she stars opposite Vijay Deverakonda. “Gehraiyaan was my best performance so far. As an actor and as a person I want to keep getting better. I want to keep growing… I am very hopeful that I will win everyone over one day.”

Her debut in Dharma Productions’ Student of the Year 2 (2019) earned her a fan following. But the 23-year-old has faced considerable flak too, notably for comments on Koffee With Karan. (The actress had said that even though her father is an actor, he had never been in a Dharma film, nor appeared ever on KWK.)

Looking back on the backlash to her remark, Panday clarifies that she agrees star kids have an advantage, especially in terms of ease of access to people in the industry. But that does not mean she takes her opportunities for granted. “I agree that we have an advantage but that doesn’t mean that I will not work hard. I don’t want to waste the time and opportunity that I have got.”

Liger with Vijay Deverakonda is her next big opportunity. Panday admits she’s feeling nervous, but the 17-city promotional tour has been a welcome chance to witness fan sentiment firsthand. Now she hopes the goodwill will translate into packed audiences come August 25, the release date.

In the meantime, she’s holding on to memories of shooting Liger. “Vijay is the complete opposite of his character in the film. He is a very shy, quiet and absolutely amazing co-star,” she says, enthused. The crew had travelled to Las Vegas to shoot the portions featuring boxer Mike Tyson. Since it was a small unit, they grew close, and the camaraderie is one Panday speaks of wistfully. “After the shoot, we’d go horse riding,” she says. “We’d even have all our meals together!”

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