Not Ananya Panday, Puri Jagannadh wanted to cast THIS actress opposite Vijay Deverakonda in Liger

Not Ananya Panday, Puri Jagannadh wanted to cast another Bollywood actress for Liger. The film features Vijay Deverakonda in the lead role.

Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday's Liger is one of the highly anticipated films of the year. The film is all set to release on August 25 and the actors are going all out to promote the film. Ahead of the film's release, Liger's director Puri Jagannadh interacted with the media and during the course of interaction, he made some interesting revelations. The filmmaker revealed that he wanted to cast Janhvi Kapoor for the film but things didn't materialise.

During a recent media interaction, Puri Jagannadh said, "I am a big fan of Sridevi ji. So, I wanted to cast Janhvi but her dates were not available [for the film]." And he added that after listening to the story of Liger, Karan Johar suggested Ananya Panday's name for the film.

The director further revealed that he had penned the story of Liger about 10 years ago. "Basically, I am a writer. This story [of Liger] I wrote 10 years back. When I narrated this idea to Vijay, he was so excited. Actually, I narrated two stories [to him]. He said 'I like this one [Liger]. I will build my body and I will become a fighter. Please make this'," he added.

The filmmaker further revealed the kind of response Vijay and Ananya are getting at the promotional events of Liger. "Whenever Vijay and Ananya are going to the malls and [looking at] the kind of crowd that is coming, we are relaxed. When they went to Pune, Patna, Vadodara and Chandigarh, the crowd response was amazing. For a 9 o' clock event [of Liger], people are waiting since 3 o'clock. They [audience] all watched his Telugu movie Arjun Reddy and from that film, they love him," he said.

Liger has been produced by Puri Connects and Dharma Productions.

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