Vijay Deverakonda’s Liger is exhibitors’ last hope after Laal Singh Chaddha and Raksha Bandhan’s dismal box office report – Exclusive – Times of India

Bollywood’s trade fraternity is quite bullish about Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday’s film Liger, which hits cinema halls in this week. Trade pundits are predicting that the Hindi version of the film may open between 10 crores to 15 crores this Friday. Trade analyst Girish Wankhede told ETimes, “Liger is going to get an opening that’s going to be more than all our big stars’ recent films, excluding Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. If we count the Telugu version’s numbers, the opening could be Rs 30-crore on day one and an opening weekend haul of Rs 100 crore. The reason I am saying this is because of the on-ground activities that Vijay has done, be it colleges or multiplexes, mall visits across the country. It’s a process that Aamir Khan used to do once upon a time. Liger is that one silver lining, that I can see in the coming days and be bullish about it. We need larger than life cinema and here in Bollywood we have gone into intellectual space. We need to come out of it and enter the entertainment space and Liger seems to have all that is needed.’’

“Vijay Deverakonda is already a known face with most of his South films being dubbed and watched by the Hindi speaking audience on satellite channels and digital platforms. Also, the actor is working hard to reach out to the Hindi audiences with the kind of integration and outreach programme he has conducted to promote Liger,” said Trade Analyst Atul Mohan.

Mohan further added, “Right from the trailer launch, Liger has generated good buzz in the trade and amongst the public. Vijay is a sensation with the youth down South and with Liger he seems to be building a strong base in the North as well. Advance bookings have opened in the South and withing few hours almost all the shows got sold out. That’s a positive sign. Looking at the public response to Liger’s city tours, I guess the film could open big in North as well. I feel it could easily achieve double digits, 15+ crores is a possibility according to me. If that happens, it would be one of the best openings in Hindi as well. Just one trailer with no dialogues and a couple of songs has built tremendous anticipation and the audience has been asking for more.”

The exhibition sector, which has been reeling under pressure from the poor showing of recent big-ticket Bollywood releases, is pinning hopes on Liger this week. Exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said, “It certainly looks like an exciting film and it has set the mass centres on fire. I’m not sure about how the urban mindset of India will react to it. But the least common denominator, the common man, should lap it up. And I’m hopeful that it will be a rage among that audience.”

Rathi has kept his expectations under check when it comes to Liger’s business prospects in Hindi. He said, “It is difficult to put a number, but the bare minimum in Hindi should be 5 crores. In Telugu, it will go ballistic. I’m saying 5 crores as the bare minimum for the Hindi release. The expectations we had from so many big-ticket films of late and compared to the way they performed, I’d rather be conservative and be surprised than be optimistic and get disappointed.”

Rathi also revealed that theatre owners are praying for a hit. He said, “We have been keeping cinemas open despite bearing losses only because of hope. Hope is the only thing that’s still keeping a lot of people in the business.’’

Rathi feels that Vijay Deverakonda is hardly a pan-India actor, as he’s making his national debut with Liger in Hindi. But Rathi is hopeful that the film’s veteran director Puri Jagannath can be a factor in the film’s success. He said, “The hope is with the director Puri Jagannath’s sensibility and his understanding of the mass audience. The one man I’m counting on in this film is Puri Jagannath. Vijay Deverakonda is aiming to become a pan-India star which I’m happy about. And that’s the way it should be for all stars. I’m glad to see that Ranbir Kapoor went and did a road show in Vijaywada and promotions in Hyderabad for Brahmastra. This cross-pollination of talent is very important for stars, because the whole country is the market right now. I’m happy to see Vijay Deverakonda aspiring to do that with Liger. Hopefully, he will become a pan-India star after this release.”