Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday's Liger turned out to be a huge failure at the box office. The film was unanimously panned by critics and audience alike. In a recent interview, Ram Gopal Varma said that the 'Boycott Liger' movement happened because of Karan Johar's association. The maverick filmmaker also added that Vijay Deverakonda's aggressive nature could be the reason.
Vijay is naturally aggressive on stage. He has attention-grabbing antics. But the fundamental reason why there was a boycott Liger movement in Bollywood is because of Karan Johar who is associated with the project. Ever since Sushant Singh Rajput’s demise, it has become common for Bollywood folk to boycott Karan’s films,” he told TV5 Tollywood.
During the film promotions, Vijay tackled criticism and calls for a boycott openly against his film. Speaking about the same, Vijay told ANI, "We've put our heart into making this film. And I believe that I am correct. I feel that there is no room for fear, when I had nothing, I didn't fear, and now after having achieved something, I don't think there needs to be any fear even now. Maa ka aashirwaad hai, logon ka pyaar hai, bhagwaan ka haath hai, andar aag hai, kaun rokenge dekh lenge (We have mother's blessings, people's love, God's support, a fire inside us, we will see who will stop us)!"
Referring to Vijay’s comment, RGV added, “Another factor here is humility. The Hindi folk were mesmerised by Jr NTR, Ram Charan and Prabhas. The down-to-earth nature of these stars impressed the Hindi audience. They were amazed to see the humility of the South stars after seeing the arrogance of Bollywood stars all along. Then Vijay came along with his natural aggressive speeches at Liger events and that also triggered them. Liger gave enough material for the boycott movement.” Earlier it was Manoj Desai, the executive director of Gaiety Galaxy and Maratha Mandir Cinema, who called Vijay arrogant for his strong words.