Boxing legend Mike Tyson to make Bollywood debut in 'Liger'

Karan Johar took to Twitter on Monday to announce a new cast member of his upcoming film as producer, Liger. Former boxer Mike Tyson will be part of the film, which also stars Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday.

"For the first time ever, the king of the ring will be seen on the big screens of Indian cinema! Welcoming @MikeTyson to the #LIGER team! #NamasteTyson," he wrote with a promotional video, announcing Mike's entry to the team.

While details of Mike's role are yet to be revealed, as per the teaser video it appears he will face off with Deverakonda's character in the boxing ring. Mike played a fictionalised version of himself in the 2009 Hollywood hit film The Hangover and its 2011 sequel The Hangover Part II.

He has also starred in Ip Man 3, the 2015 film in the popular Hong Kong martial arts film series.

Mike competed from 1985 to 2005 as a professional boxer. He was considered among the greatest boxers of all time. However, in 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison but let out in 1995.

Vijay Deverakonda and Ananya Panday recently resumed the Liger shoot. Earlier in May, a teaser for the film was released. The film was up for a September 9 release in five languages - Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam--but was postponed due to the rising Covid-19 cases at that time.

Earlier in January, Karan Johar, who has co-produced the project with Vijay Deverakonda, shared the official poster for the movie, unveiling the first look of Vijay as a boxer. Directed by Puri Jagannadh, the film will also feature Ramya Krishnan, Ronit Roy, Vishu Reddy, among others. It has been co-produced by Charmme Kaur along with the director's production house Puri Connects.

Apart from Liger, Ananya also has Shakun Batra's domestic noir film with Deepika Padukone and Siddhant Chaturvedi. She also has "Kho Gaye Hum Kahan" with Siddhant and Adarsh Gourav, directed by Arjun Varain Singh.