Liger (2022), Vijay Deverakonda's eagerly anticipated Bollywood debut, received unfavourable reviews from both critics and fans. The opening day audience for the Puri Jagannadh film was dismal. Manoj Desai, the executive director of Maratha Mandir and the Gaiety Galaxy theatre, took offence to this and referred to Vijay as "arrogant" and "anaconda" for his remarks regarding the ongoing boycott trends on social media.
Vijay noticed it and recently travelled from Hyderabad to Mumbai to meet with the theatre owner to put any misunderstandings to rest. Confirming the news, Manoj Desai, the theatre owner said to a news portal, "Yes he has come to meet me to clear the misunderstanding. Please note, he has cleared the understanding."
The cinema owner had watched a faked video, as Vijay went on to explain to him. Manoj recognised the context after Vijay explained his side of the story and declared that Vijay is the second person after Amitabh Bachchan to whom he has expressed his regret in his life. Vijay also said he deeply loves his audience and participated in nationwide promotions despite having a broken back. Manoj has nothing but appreciation for Deverakonda. "He is a really very nice guy, down to earth, I will keep loving him always. He has got a bright future and I promise hereby, I will take all his pictures. I wish him all the best," added Manoj.
With 2.8 ratings, Liger is now among the lowest-rated movies on IMDb, trailing only recently released movies like Taapsee Pannu's Dobaaraa (2.9), Akshay Kumar's Rakshan Bandhan (4.6), and Aamir Khan's Laal Singh Chaddha (5.0).