Liger box office collection day 1: Vijay Deverakonda is not the saviour that Bollywood hoped for

Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday starrer Liger released in theatres on Thursday after a massive promotional campaign all across the country. Vijay’s Hindi debut was excessively hyped but if early reports of the film’s box office collection are any indication, the film has fallen to the curse that is upon the Bollywood box office at the moment. The film opened to largely negative reviews, even starting meme trends.
Directed Puri Jagannadh, Liger managed to start its box office journey with a worldwide collection of Rs 24.5 crore, as per AndhraBoxOffice.com. They suggest that in the Telugu belt, the Arjun Reddy star’s film earned approximately Rs 15 crore but the much-hyped Hindi version has opened at a dismal Rs 5 crore. The film is expected to do well in Telugu states as that is Vijay’s core fandom. However, the film has been marketed as pan-India release and needs to do well especially in North. The Hindi figures are rather disappointing because the makers of Liger went on many city tours to build excitement around the film which has somehow not translated into numbers.
AndhraBoxOffice.com had earlier predicted that Liger could rake in Rs 35 crore but the film has fallen short of that. Deepak, who runs the trade tracking site told , “Liger should double the opening day collection of Dear Comrade. Between that film and Liger, a lot of things have changed. The market has become bigger and is more dynamic now. I think Dear Comrade’s worldwide collection was about Rs 18 crore. And I think Liger will make gross nearly Rs 35 crore on its release day.”

Marketed as a pan-India film, Liger has not received good reviews from critics. The Indian Express’ Shubhra Gupta gave the film 1 star and called it a “cringe-fest of mammoth proportions.” “There’s nothing new or fresh about the ingredients that go into the making of this Vijay Deverakonda film. The plot is filled with all kinds of outlandish situations, and the treatment is jaded,” read a part of the review.
Also starring Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy and Mike Tyson, Liger was in making for three years after facing many delays due to the pandemic. The ‘boycott’ trend around the film emerged last week after Vijay spoke in favour of Aamir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha.