Ananya Panday was 'uncomfortable' doing Vijay Deverakonda's Liger, reveals dad Chunky: 'She said I'm too young for this'

Ananya Panday starred alongside Vijay Deverakonda in Puri Jagannadh's Liger, which was released in 2022.

Liger, the ill-fated 2022 film that marked Vijay Deverakonda's Hindi-language debut, was the female lead Ananya Panday's first mainstream commercial film. Three years after the film bombed at the box office, Ananya's father, actor Chunky Panday, revealed that she was 'uncomfortable' doing the film and felt 'too young' to take up the role. (

Ananya Panday and Vijay Deverakonda in Liger.

Chunky Panday on Ananya's discomfort with Liger

Ananya was 23 when she signed Liger. In an interview with Mashable India, Chunky revealed that she looked younger as she had a baby-face. Before Liger, Ananya had appeared in four films - Student of the Year 2, Pati Patni Aur Woh, Khaali Peeli, and Gehraaiyan. However, none of them were mass entertainers. Chunky recalled that she was apprehensive about picking Liger. “When she asked me if she should do this film… she was thinking that she was too young for it. She said, ‘Papa, I am too young to do this.’ I said you do this; it’s a commercial, a big film but maybe she was right. She was too young to do it,” he said, adding, “She was uncomfortable. She said maybe, I am too young for this. She was confused then.”

Chunky added that, of late, he stopped giving career advice to Ananya as he had reservations about her doing the Amazon Prime Video series, Call Me Bae, which eventually earned her a Filmfare Award nomination. “From that day on, I never put any pressure on her. Maybe I was wrong. I am old school. I don’t know anything else. If she had asked me, ‘Papa, should I do Bae?’ I would have said no,” he said.

About Liger

Liger was directed by Puri Jagannadh and was shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu. Apart from Vijay and Ananya, the film also starred Ramya Krishnan and Ronit Roy, along with a cameo from Mike Tyson. Made on a budget of ₹125 crore, the film earned only ₹60 crore.

Ananya was last seen in the Netflix film CTRL, which earned her rave reviews and praise. She will be next seen in Akshay Kumar-starrer Kesari Chapter 2.