Puri Jagannadh: Liger was born out of Allu Arjun’s idea, always wanted to make a martial arts film

Puri Jagannadh is not new to Hindi cinema at all - he has directed Shart, the Hindi remake of Badri with Tushar Kapoor earlier and helmed the much popular Bbuddah Hoga Terra Baap with Amitabh Bachchan. However, the filmmaker needs to prove himself to a different audience and generation with Vijay Deverakonda’s action entertainer Liger, the multilingual is set to hit theatres this weekend.

As part of the film’s promotions, Puri and Pushpa director Sukumar came together for an interview today. The latter was more of a fanboy during the conversation, talking of how Puri Jagannadh was a key influence to most filmmakers who entered the industry then. Idiot, Pokiri and Badri, he remarked, were films that changed the paradigms of mainstream cinema. Puri and Sukumar also bonded over Liger.

“Liger as a story idea was born out of a conversation with Allu Arjun during the shoot of Desamuduru. He spoke to me about a filmmaker who made sports films where the protagonist had a different handicap in every story. He asked me to write something similar. I wasn’t sure if I could make my protagonists blind or mute, but I felt it would look better if he had a stammering problem,” Puri said.

“I must credit Allu Arjun for it. He liked it immensely when I told him. The film wouldn’t have happened without him. I always wanted to make a martial arts film and this was the right time to make it,” he added. When Sukumar asked why his lead protagonists were either orphans or had dysfunctional families in most of his films, including Liger, Puri gave an interesting explanation for the same.

“I had a good upbringing but I always noticed that a few people around me were mentally very strong and resilient. I wondered why and it traced back to their family. There’s a lot of suffering one undergoes when they lose their parents early in life. The crisis makes them very focused and they have the strength to withstand any storm. I want my protagonists to exhibit that strength and clarity,” the filmmaker stated.

Talking of his decision to cast Mike Tyson, he mentioned, “When I was writing this character, I always wanted to cast an actor who would behave like Mike Tyson. Over time, I felt why can’t we try to bring him on board for the film when he’s very much alive. Charmee took it upon herself and convinced him to say yes after a year. He may have been an aggressive man then, he’s so chilled out now. Many will be surprised to see Mike Tyson, the actor.”

Apparently, Mike was to take part in the promotional tours too. “We initially thought of including Mike Tyson for the promotion but it would take a lot of effort and procedure to bring him to India. Our energies need to be invested in him amidst the promotional campaign, which wasn’t practically possible. We have an idea to host a preview of Liger in the US along with Telugu people,” Puri added.

Ramya Krishna, while listening to the script of Liger, was reportedly very curious to see how would Vijay Deverakonda play the character with the stammering. “On the very first day of the shoot too, she was with us and was so enamoured by his performance and clapped on set. A strong, arrogant character who stammers will make for interesting viewing. Vijay cracked the rhythm of the character perfectly”

Ravishing praise on Vijay, Puri mentioned, “I’ve never seen an actor as liberated and natural as Vijay Deverakonda in the last 10 years. No matter what he does, cry, fight or emote, he manages to be convincing. It’s very rare for an actor to get a red-carpet welcome for his first Hindi film and he enjoys such a huge fan following already. He has a bright future ahead.”