Puri Jagannadh seeks police protection after threats from distributors over settlement of losses post Liger’s failure

Filmmaker Puri Jagannadh has sought police protection after he allegedly received threats from film distributors, who are planning to protest in front of his house in Hyderabad, if he doesn’t settle losses of his last release, Liger. In his police complaint, Puri has mentioned that the distributors cannot threaten or blackmail him in any manner and should have filed a civil case if they felt he or his firm owes them any amount.

Puri Jagannadh, who currently resides in Mumbai, had directed Liger, featuring Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday. The film, which was simultaneously released in August in Hindi and Telugu, turned out to be a box office failure.

In his police complaint, Puri revealed that as per agreement he had paid all his dues to distributor Warangal Sreenu. He added that Sreenu had defaulted payments to the sub-distributors, who are now being coerced by Sreenu to believe that Puri owes them money.

In his statement, Puri further added that he fears that Sreenu will instigate violence and enter his house in Hyderabad and harass his family members, which include his 85-year-old mother-in-law, along with the director’s wife and daughter.

Liger, which also stars Ramya Krishnan and Ronit Roy, was promoted aggressively as a pan-India film, especially after Karan Johar came on board to release the Hindi version. However, the film opened to largely middling response from the audiences with most calling the film ‘formulaic’ and ‘wasted opportunity’ for Vijay, who had spent three years on the project.

Despite registering an opening of Rs. 25 crore from its first day worldwide, Liger crashed at the box office. Before the release of Liger, it was announced that Vijay and Puri would work together on another project titled Jana Gana Mana. It was also announced that the film would be released in August 2023. However, the project was dropped. A source close to Vijay had confirmed to Hindustan Times that the project had been called off.