Mike Tyson is such a sport: Liger actor Vijay Deverakonda on the boxing legend

Vijay Deverakonda plays a boxer in the pan-Indian film Liger, which has the tagline "Saala Crossbreed." The boxing legend Mike Tyson plays a crucial role in the film, which tells the story of an MMA fighter. The man, who has a sizable fan base due to his persona both on and off the ring, is set to gain even more fame with the Puri Jagannadh-directorial.

Speaking about his experience of working with Mike Tyson, Vijay says, "He came to have a blast on the sets. Tyson doesn't consider himself an actor. Initially, he asked, why were we casting him as an actor. We told him that his persona adds so much to the film. The weight of his stardom lends the gravitas to our project."

Further, the Arjun Reddy actor adds, "To be honest, we were a little worried if we would get what we wanted him to do. Ours is a different kind of cinema. I talk in Telugu. That's my comfort zone. The same goes for him with regards to English. But, the time acted as grease on Liger's journey. It went well as the days went by, and we soon shared the same wavelength."

Vijay Deverakonda says team Liger had to modify a few action sequences to suit Tyson's technique and style. "The ace boxer doesn't do MMA. Our action director subtly adjusted the sequences as per his rhythm. But, he's such a sport. He was game to do anything!"

The makers shot mostly in Mumbai. "I was impressed by the speed of the technicians. So, a film which would have taken 200 days to shoot was wrapped up in around 140 days. The marketing and the promotional logistics are comparatively super-efficient here."

For his part, Vijay Deverakonda needed to look muscular, or as he puts it, he "wanted to look like a beast". Therefore, he approached his character by mixing high-intensity weight training with fights. "Weight training adds much stiffness, contrary to the demands of the flexible body of an MMA fighter. To overcome the muscle stiffness, I forced myself to do spin kicks because that would help the body retain normalcy."

The Dear Comrade actor even got injured once during the training. "You gotta pay something to achieve something," he says.

Vijay Deverakonda spoke about the evolving trends in cinema. "The Indian film industry is moving in the right direction. To become more powerful, we must unite the country and bridge its several gaps. One of our biggest strengths is our population and the market potential that it entails. The reason Amazon, Apple and Google are setting up such big facilities and investing in good infrastructure is that the Indian consumer market is a holy grail," he points out.

In association with Puri connects, Liger is produced jointly by the Dharma Productions banner. The film also features actors Ananya Pandey as the female lead, Ronit Roy as the coach, Vishu Reddy, Ali, Makarand Desh Pandey and Getup Srinu.

The pan-Indian film, which was certified an U/A, will be released in Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam on August 25.