Liger director Puri Jagannadh says he’s ‘packed his bags and shifted to Mumbai’: ‘I will make only pan-India films now’

Puri Jagannadh had written the story for Liger ten years ago. On why he finally made it, he says, “The story was very good. In my career as a filmmaker, I’ve learnt a lot as a technician and I’ve used it in Liger. It is full of action. Basically, I’m a writer, so I wrote this story ten years ago. When I narrated this idea to Vijay (Deverakonda), he was very excited. I narrated two stories to him and he chose this one. He loved the story and wanted to make his body like a fighter.”

The filmmaker says he underestimated the stardom of Vijay Deverakonda. While making Liger, he thought he’d have to promote the actor as much as he would have to promote the film, but turns out that Vijay’s popularity amongst the audience is helping the film’s promotions.

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A post shared by Vijay Deverakonda (@thedeverakonda)

He says, “Initially we thought that we’ve have to promote Vijay and the film. But we realised that Vijay already has a huge fan following, and not just in the Telugu belt. We wonder how it has happened, but we’re actually relaxed as the crowd response is amazing and they have some kind of connect with Vijay. They’ve all watched Arjun Reddy, so they already know Vijay. They’re loving him. He has not given a single Hindi movie yet, but he has fan following here too.”

“Vijay is a very genuine guy, and that shows in his performance. When you meet him off screen also, you’ll know how genuinely he talks. You’ll love him more when you meet him off screen. He is very cool and grounded. You’ll see in Liger how I have taken many elevation shots. You’ll see how he doesn’t pose. I love him for it,” he adds.

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A post shared by Vijay Deverakonda (@thedeverakon

Liger also stars Mike Tyson. On what went behind casting the legendary fighter, Puri shares, “When Vijay and I decided to do this film, we decided that the film’s budget will be huge as there are so many fight sequences. We have shot the film at international destinations, with many foreign fighters. We wanted to make it a pan India film and pitch it to all the states, so we collaborated with Karan Johar. Every time we discussed the story, we used to talk about how we need someone like Mike Tyson. So Karan suggested since we need ‘someone like Mike Tyson’, why not approach Mike Tyson himself. So the idea of casting Mike Tyson came after a few months of shooting. It wasn’t easy to get him on board. I took one year to sign him.”

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Puri Jagannadh then spoke about why he thinks most dubbed south Indian films are received very well in north and western India, and shared how hardly any Hindi films get dubbed for the south Indian audience. He says, “Hindi films dubbed in south Indian languages are not working whereas north Indians are accepting south Indian films dubbed in Hindi. Having said that, most Hindi films are not dubbed for the south Indian audience. But I won’t say that they are not watching Hindi films all together. I come from a small village in Andhra Pradesh, and 40 years ago, I used to watch all the Hindi films that released there. Every Saturday and Sunday only Hindi movies would come in theatres and we all used to run to watch these films. People wouldn’t know Hindi but they’d watch Hindi movies. I used to watch Amitabh Bachchan movies. I wouldn’t understand a single word of Hindi, but I used to enjoy them.”

On being asked if the present phase of most Bollywood films not doing well in theatres adds any pressure for Liger, he says, “Not only in Bollywood, it is happening everywhere. The pandemic has changed the audience and they’ve become very choosy. If they don’t like the trailer, they don’t go for the movie, no matter who’s starring in the film. It is scary actually.”

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On why Telugu films are the current favourite among movie lovers, Puri says, “There is no formula. I know one thing — they (the audience) want masala entertainers. Unless it is an event movie or something exciting, or there is some madness or something unique in the movie, they’re not going to theatres. They’re busy watching movies on OTT only.”

Puri Jagannadh is known for his action dramas and masala entertainers. On being asked if he’d make content for OTT anytime soon, he says, “I’ll continue to make films for theatres. People love cinema more that OTT. Maybe OTT is a phase. There is so much content on so many different streaming platforms that the audience can get confused. Most of the time, they’re scrolling and trying to figure what they want to see. But when the audience decides they want to go to the cinema and love a film, it gives them a kick, a satisfaction. Right now people want masala films and action films, but I am sure soon they’ll also want family movies. There are different phases and trends, but theatres have stood the test of time and they’ll always be there.”

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A post shared by Puri Jagannadh (@purijagannadh)

On being asked how he decided to make Liger as a pan-India film, and if he’ll now make more Telugu movies, Puri said that his focus is on making pan-India films, with JGM being his next after Liger.

He said, “I packed my bags and shifted to Mumbai three years back. Now I’ll only make pan-India films. I made movies in Telugu for the last 32 years and have worked with all the heroes. Now I want to make big films here.”