Vijay Deverakonda will be starring in his first pan-Indian film, Liger, in collaboration with Puri Jagannadh. Known for films like iSmart Shankar and Pokiri, director Puri Jagannadh is certainly giving us all the right feels with his latest project as Liger is based on boxing. With Vijay in the lead, the movie co-stars four-film-old Ananya Panday along with a special appearance by legendary boxer Mike Tyson.
During a press conference, for announcing his second collaboration with director Puri Jagannadh, titled JGM, Vijay opened up about working with one of the greatest heavyweight boxers Mike Tyson, who is dubbed with various nicknames including “Iron Mike” and “The Baddest Man on the Planet”.
Calling his experience of working with Tyson ‘surreal’, the Kabir Singh actor said, “Working with Mike Tyson is an experience. When we talk among ourselves we say, who are the biggest stars on this planet. We thought of four people. If you go to any country in the world, who are these legends? We think of Michael Jackson, kisi bhi country mein jaeo people will know. Then Jackie Chan, then other names we thought of [were] Bruce Lee and Mike Tyson. These are the ones you go anywhere, people will know them. Only Jackie Chan and Mike Tyson are left.”
Since Tyson is set to make his debut in Indian cinema, Vijay shared that during filming, he received a punch from the boxer that “shook his brains.”
“We got to eat with Mike Tyson and chat with him. I got pinned and got a punch in the face, which shook my brains but I was standing. And that gave me a lot of confidence. I thought, ‘Tyson ne mara aur mein khada hun. Now I can take anything in the world.’ But it was fun, it was a creative experience. Some experiences with him I cannot share but it’s a memory for life,” the actor said.
Both Vijay and Ananya shot several scenes with Tyson in November 2021 in the US. The two stars posted pictures on social media that went viral.
Liger is all set to hit the screens on August 23, 2022.
