'Boycott Liger' trends following Vijay Deverakonda support of Laal Singh Chaddha

Actor Vijay Deverakonda has been aggressively advertising his movie Liger in various locations in advance of its August 25 release. While the publicity around his Hindi debut has been sustained by the promotions, Liger appears to be the most recent casualty of the cancel culture that is gaining traction on social media. Boycott Liger has become a popular hashtag since early on Saturday morning. This comes after Vijay's support of actor Aamir Khan and his recently released film Laal Singh Chaddha, which had poor box office performance.

Vijay, playing the role of a boxer in the film Liger, is the target of offensive memes and comments on social media. Ananya Panday, the film's leading heroine, and producer Karan are also the targets of social media trolls in addition to Vijay.

Trolls have fought a fierce battle against Vijay's eagerly anticipated Bollywood debut, labelling him everything from conceited to a failed star.

Vijay recently spoke about the cancel culture and the boycotting Laal Singh Chaddha trend that had lately taken over social media. The official Indian version of the Academy Award-winning Hollywood film Forrest Gump, starring Aamir Khan, managed to earn just Rs. 49 crores in its opening week, according to the Indian Express.

Vijay, in an interview with India Today, said, "I just think on a film set, other than the actor, director, and actress, there are many other important characters, there are 200-300 artistes working on a film and all of us have staff members, so a film gives employment to many people and is a source of livelihoods for many. When Aamir Khan Sir makes a Laal Singh Chaddha, it is his name that stars in the film, but there are 200-300 families that are being provided for."

"When you decide to boycott a film, you are not only affecting Aamir Khan, you are affecting thousands of families who lose work and livelihoods. Aamir Sir is someone who pulls the crowd to the theatres. I am not sure why this boycott call is happening, but for whatever misunderstanding, this is happening, please realise you are not affecting Aamir Khan alone but the economy. It is a much bigger picture", he added.

Liger is a bilingual Telugu and Hindi film that was directed by Puri Jagannadh. Famous American boxer Mike Tyson makes his Bollywood debut in the film as well