Exhibitors of Vijay Deverakonda's Liger protest in Hyderabad, demand refund after film's box office failure

Ahead of Vijay Deverakonda's Kushi release, the distributors of his flop film Liger have set up a protest camp in Telangana demanding the refund of the money they lost.

According to several media reports, a protest was held by Liger’s exhibitors and leasers on May 12 at the Film Chamber in Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad. They have started a relay fast and are seeking refunds from the film's producers.

Why are Liger exhibitors protesting?

Liger's director and producer Puri Jagannadh had reportedly promised to pay the exhibitors and leasers compensations for their losses but he had requested for six months time.

However, the team of Liger has not released any official statement or reacted to the protest in any way.

Liger's box office failure

The movie's budget was reportedly Rs 200 crore, but it earned only Rs 60 crore, resulting in significant losses for exhibitors and leasers.

Liger marked Vijay's debut in Bollywood and it also featured Ananya Panday. The film tanked miserably at the box office post which Vijay went MIA for almost a month.

The makers had later stated that the film might have failed to connect with the audience and that they will make sure to learn from their mistakes and cater what the viewers demand.

The film was released in August 2022. It also starred Ramya Krishna, Ronit Roy and boxing legend Mike Tyson.

Vijay's upcoming project

Meanwhile, Vijay is gearing up for the release of Kushi along with Samantha Ruth Prabhu. The first song titled Na Roja Nuvve was officially released by the makers on the occasion of Vijay’s birthday (May 9).

Kushi is being directed by Shiva Nirvana. The film was earlier scheduled to release in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam in December 2022. However, it will not hit the screens on September 1, 2023.

The film also features Jayaram, Sachin Khadekar, Ali, Vennela Kishore and Rahul Ramakrishna.