On Monday, the advance booking for Liger opened, a Puri Jagannadh–directed feature with Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday in leading roles. Despite a vast publicity campaign, ticket sales have not been as expected. This will be Deverakonda’s first time on the big screen in Hindi.
On Friday, the movie sold a total of 16,000 tickets across three major theater chains in India with pre-opening day sales not even reaching one crore. Everything now rests on last–minute ticket purchases. Word of mouth among Telugu viewers has been poor and if Hindi viewers follow suit, it could cause huge losses to the film industry.
Movie–goers that opt for the single-screen experience have been enticed by the feature; in hopes that both masses and individual theaters alike will be crowded on release day. A turnout lower than 4 crore on its opening would certainly disappoint many, especially given the heightened anticipation created prior to the movie’s launch.
The pre–release expectations for the Hindi version of the movie across India stands at a staggering Rs. 80 lakhs and tomorrow will reveal if these figures hold true.
