Ever since the Vijay Deverakonda-starrer Liger was announced and throughout the production phase, anticipation for the film had been high. The movie made quite a buzz due to Vijay Deverakonda’s insane physical transformation, the martial arts-based story and international boxing champion Mike Tyson’s cameo.
Director Puri Jagannadh had high hopes from Liger but post-release, the story took a totally different turn. Since its release on August 27, the movie has got overwhelmingly negative reviews from audiences and critics alike and is staggering at the box office with low footfall due to poor word of mouth.
Liger has received backlash for poor direction, poor performances, a lacklustre screenplay and borderline misogyny among other things. While many have taken to social media to assert their disapproval of Liger, a Puri Jagannadh fan has now written an open letter to the director, expressing his disappointment with the film and complaining of the movie lacks the ‘Puri touch’.
A Hyderabad resident named Phani Naidu posted the letter on his Facebook account. He started by saying he is a big fan of the director and that he went to watch Liger without reading any reviews although his friends dissuaded him saying that his favourite director’s work was over and that his last film Ismart Shankar was a fluke hit. However, he said in the letter that he did not feel that he was watching a Puri Jagannadh movie. “I do not care if the movie is a hit or a flop as long as it is good. But the Puri mark I know, the Puri I enjoy, it was not there”, he wrote.
He said that Liger looked like a Hindi remake of one of Puri’s films Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi was dubbed into Telugu and released. “How did you miss your mark,” was the fan’s chief complaint to the director.
He continued to say that his respect for the director remains intact even though he did not like Liger. Referring to a recent interaction Puri had with director Sukumar about stepping out of one’s comfort zone, he beseeched his favourite director to come out of his comfort zone and make a movie.
“Show me the vintage Puri. Give us films like Pokiri and Businessman,” the letter stated in the end.
Meanwhile, recent reports state that due to the poor performance of the movie, the distributors of Liger are expected to suffer losses close to Rs 50 crore.
