'Papa, I am too young to do this': Chunky reveals Ananya Panday's discomfort with Liger role opposite Vijay Deverakonda

In the Indian film industry, age seems to be no barrier for male actors, while for actresses, the younger, the better¡ªoften leading to much older male stars being cast opposite significantly younger female leads. Case in point: 50-something Akshay Kumar romancing 20-something Manushi Chhillar in Samrat Prithviraj, with a nearly 30-year age gap. This pattern has been seen time and again in Bollywood, and now, Chunky Pandey has shared that his daughter, Ananya Pandey, had expressed concerns about being too young for her role in Liger.

In the 2022 film Liger, Ananya Panday was 23 years old at the time of its release, while her co-star Vijay Deverakonda, born in 1989, was 33, resulting in a nearly nine-year age gap between them.

Speaking to Mashable India, Ananya's father, Chunky Pandey, shared that she appeared even younger due to her baby-faced looks.

Chunky recalled that Ananya had reservations about doing 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,'" he said.

"She was uncomfortable. She said maybe I am too young for this. She was confused then," he added.

About Liger

Liger is a 2022 Indian sports action movie directed by Puri Jagannadh.

It stars Vijay Deverakonda as an aspiring MMA fighter and Ananya Panday as his love interest.

Despite high expectations, Liger received negative reviews and struggled at the box office.

It earned around Rs 41.17 crore net in India, which wasn't enough to cover its production costs, making it a commercial failure.

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