Exclusive! You’ve got to make that cinema and be that actor that excites people to come to theatres: Vijay Deverakonda

One of the most popular actors in India at the moment, Vijay Deverakonda was in namma Bengaluru on Friday to promote his next release, Liger. The film, directed by Puri Jagannadh, marks the Telugu heartthrob’s Bollywood debut. Vijay, who has fond memories from his earlier visits to the Garden City, began this trip with a visit to the late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar’s samadhi, following which he had a quick meet-and-greet with the local media and then a pre-release event at a city mall.

Fans who’d got wind of where the press meet was happening gathered outside the hotel in large numbers, some even finding their way in on some pretext. Those who managed to get close enough to ask for a quick selfie, or even a hug, were more than happily obliged by the star. Stealing him away from all this was not an easy task, but we managed to get five minutes with the actor. Here’s what we spoke about.

Liger is a classic underdog tale… nothing new there. What was it about this project that appealed to you?

Every film that you do will have the same sort of emotions – it will either have anger or the journey of the hero. Liger is also the journey of the hero story from an underdog to whatever he becomes, as you will see in the film. What excites you are the scenes that are a part of the journey, as in the drama that leads to it - that is very new. It could be the same story, but every scene was a high and it excited me. And to be able to transform into this other person that is not you, to be able to behave and talk like him, I call it my biggest playground as an actor. And I got to do things that I had never done before as an actor. I completely enjoyed my time on set. These were the things that really excited me to do the film.

But the film also took a while in the making, as there were multiple breaks owing to the pandemic and throughout it, you had to maintain the same look. How challenging was that for you?

It is a challenge, but then everything in life is. This was just another new challenge thrown at me and I just had to deal with it. There is no point of thinking about it and complaining. You just need to stay on the job and get it done when you are excited about it.

Is there anything from this whole transformation journey that has stuck on… like a learning experience? Of course, you are currently nursing an injury sustained during the training for the film, but still…

I know the mistakes I made in my training. I know how much to push and how much not to. This was the first time I was doing a physical transformation. And I just pushed it beyond a certain limit, for which I am paying some sort of a price right now. But I am okay with it; I am very happy with the visual that you have onscreen and that lives forever. There’s a price to everything you do and I know that given time, I can fix this. But yeah, I did learn a better way of training and staying healthy. Health is really important and whoever is working out, you need to do it right. That is another long conversation to tell them the mistakes that I made.

Liger is releasing at a time when there is an uneasy air surrounding Bollywood vs South films. You’ve said that your film is, technically, a Telugu movie, but it is going to the Hindi belt too. What’s your take on this current situation? Also, has filmmaking changed to the extent that it’s all about big budgets, mass elevation, etc?

See, the environment of cinema has changed. You have access to entertainment from social media, short-format videos, Youtube, etc., at the click of a button, so options are everywhere. When it was only cinema, theatres and TV, people would flock there to watch. Now you need a certain kind of excitement around a film or an actor to make you feel that rather than at the click of a button I am going to make this journey and buy tickets. We have to accept this fact. We are also dealing with a changing world and we have to deal with it. But across the world if you see, there is a certain kind of cinema and actors that are pulling the crowds. We hope to make that cinema and be that actor that will excite audiences enough to come to the theatres. It’s a changing scenario and we all have to adapt to it.

Liger has you sharing screen space with former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, something that your mother wasn’t too thrilled about. Why was she nervous?

My mom still doesn’t understand action in cinema; she thinks we are actually hitting each other. And every time there’s a fight in which I am getting hit and crying, she also cries while watching it. So, when I was going to shoot with Tyson, he had begun posting videos of him training on social media in which he is butchering the boxing pads. My mom saw these videos and got really scared. Then she saw some Youtube videos, in which he is knocking people out, yelling at them and is called the baddest man on the planet and that messed with her psychologically. She started calling the producer, telling them to take care of me on set. She also tied a bunch of religious bands on my hand, which, of course, I couldn’t wear during the shoot, because I am playing a character. But she did what she had to and she would check every day with the team if I am okay. Now she is happy.

Did he give you any tips, though?

Mike is a boxer, and I am an MMA fighter in the film, both of which are very different. He doesn’t know MMA, but he knows fighting and the mentality of a fighter. It was great to spend time with him and just be around him. That was an honour.