The Telugu and Tamil version of the Puri Jagannadh directed Liger has seen a release on August 25, whereas the Hindi version is set for an August 26 opening in cinema halls across the globe. The movie has taken the best start for a Vijay Deverakonda film in the South Indian markets as also the best start for a star falling in the tier 2 bracket of the Telugu Film Industry. In-fact, if the film proves to be a hit, it might mark the entry of Vijay Deverakonda to the tier 1 group. It has been certified U/A by the central board of film certification with an approved runtime of 2 Hours and 20 Minutes (120 minutes).
The film, featuring Ananya Panday as the female lead, will see a fairly wide release in the Hindi belts on over 2000 screens (exact count not known yet), with showcasing concentrated towards the single screens and the mini multiplexes in tier 2 and tier 3 markets. It’s a mass action entertainer, which would aim to bring the Mass and the Youth on board on the opening day and then hope for a positive talk to set an upward trend through the weekend. It’s a film from the Telugu Film Industry that’s releasing in Hindi and over the last few months, it’s this industry that has tasted maximum success in the Hindi belts, including a surprise like Kartikeya 2.
The response in advance booking is pretty slow as of now for Friday and it would all depend on the spot bookings through the day. Till Thursday morning, Liger had sold approximately 12000 tickets at the three national chains, with a gross total a little above Rs 30 lakh. This isn’t where the target audience of Liger rests and hence, the eyes will be on how the single screens open on Friday noon. Liger also has some paid previews on Thursday night and surprisingly that has good occupancy in some pockets, though due to limited showcasing, the figures will be minimal, probably under a crore.
The advance bookings suggest an opening day around 3.5 crore mark in the Hindi belts, but it’s all the game of spot bookings. If Liger attains this number, it would be a fair start for a debutant film, however, some section had overhyped the film to the extent of a double digit opening and that might make this number seem low. While the initial talk from Telugu belts is negative, we await word of mouth of the Hindi speaking audience. If the talk is negative, the spot booking might be weak, and if this is good, we can expect some sort of movement in spot sales. It’s going to be a slow start of sorts for the size of release, or at-least that’s what the advance suggests. On the positive side, Liger is off to an extraordinary start in the native language and trends suggest a Rs 15 crore plus gross day from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. All eyes are now on the Hindi version.