Vijay Deverakonda amassed a national liking with his roles in films like Arjun Reddy, Geetha Govindam, and more. So when his Bollywood debut project – Liger – was announced last year, fans were equally excited about it. The just-released film sees Deverakonda play a kickboxer with a speech impairment. Fans had recently seen a glimpse of his character in the trailer and not many were pleased by what they saw. Unfortunately, it now appears that the movie shares a similar fate.

Liger hit the theatres today, and also stars Ananya Panday in the lead. Barely a few hours since its release, the film has already landed itself in trouble with the lyrics of a popular track titled Aafat. Moreover, with the first few reviews coming out as negative, it’s likely for the recent controversy to further affect the film’s destiny at the box office.

Coming to reviews, several fans felt that there were no ‘pluses’ in the movie apart from Deverakonda’s physical transformation. Many tagged the film as a ‘waste of time’, clearly denoting that the film did not create any buzz for them. Considering these are the first few reactions, we’d like to see how it pans out for the film this weekend.

Check Out The Reactions Below:

And while the audience is bashing Liger on the Internet, the cast is promoting the film left, right, and centre. Very recently, Deverakonda opened up about shooting with Mike Tyson for the film and revealed how the legendary boxer abused him during a scene. “He abused me a lot, albeit lovingly, in English and I can’t even repeat what he said to me. But yes, I had a good time with him,” he told IANS.

Liger also features Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy, and Makrand Deshpande, among others, in essential roles. Produced by Dharma Productions, the film is directed and written by Puri Jagannadh.

(Featured Image Credits: Twitter @dharmaproductions)