Vijay Deverakonda breaks silence on failure of 'Liger'

HYDERABAD: Actor Vijay Deverakonda, who is receiving a lot of good response for the trailer of his upcoming multilingual movie 'Kushi', has opened up on the box-office failure of his Bollywood debut film 'Liger'.

At the launch of the trailer of 'Kushi' here on Wednesday, the actor shared that 'Liger' is not the first failure of his life and that he has had many flops earlier as well, just as he has had many hit movies.

The actor told the media, "It does hurt when a film doesn't work. I have experienced many flops in the past, and 'Liger' is not the first one. I have also had many hits before. I will continue to experience both flops and hits, because ultimately we are trying to tell stories."

He added that as a creative person, he wants to tell as many stories as he can, and the process of doing so involves many risks. But, despite the risks he will still do it everytime and give it his all.

Vijay said, "My ambition is always to pursue something creative, and my lifestyle is to wholeheartedly commit to it."

'Liger - Saala Crossbreed' is a sports action film written and directed by Puri Jagannadh. Shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, the film starred Vijay Deverakonda as the titular MMA fighter Liger with stammering problem, alongside Ananya Panday as his love interest.

The film also starred Ramya Krishna and Ronit Roy in key roles, with former world heavyweight champion boxer Mike Tyson of the US playing an extended cameo.

Talking about the emotional impact of a film's failure, the actor shared that it does hurt when the results are not as expected, but that doesn't discourage him.

"I am not afraid of failure. Even though it hurts when a film doesn't work, it doesn't stop me from trying again. I am not afraid of stumbling," he said.

'Kushi', which also stars Samantha Ruth Prabhu as Vijay's love interest, is set to release in theatres on September 1.