Pushpa 2 craze refuses to die even as Allu Arjun booked for theatre stampede that killed 1, left child critical
The God-adjacent status that stars down South enjoy is its own lore. But what do you say to a manic craze that refuses to die despite news of a lost life?
It would feel obvious to state that the legacy of Pushpa 2: The Rule, currently being scripted as fans throng theatres, not just in India but the world over, stands marred by an extremely unfortunate, horrifying incident which took place during the film's premiere show in Hyderabad, a mere few hours before the film commenced its official theatrical run. But we won't say that for that is not the case.
Around 9.30 PM on Wednesday, December 4, Allu Arjun made a 'surprise' visit to Hyderabad's Sandhya Theatre, in tow with music director Devi Sri Prasad to catch the first rush of audience reactions for their mammoth project. While the theatre had been intimated of his arrival, the actor's team had not extended this courtesy to the police — and neither had the establishment's management. What ensued, was pure chaos and for obvious reasons. The theatre quickly descended into a stampede-like situation owing to fan's desires to catch a glimpse of their Icon Star. Things were made worse owing to the fact that the theatre management, despite being aware of Allu Arjun's presence as well as having a good enough understanding of what impact this would have on the crowd, did not arrange any separate exit for the actor and his entourage. This was a disaster waiting to happen.
The SHO of Chikkadpally police station, B Raju Naik, speaking to The Indian Express, explained, "Revathi and her son Sreethej felt suffocated due to the large public influx. Immediately the police personnel who were on duty pulled them out of the public from the lower balcony. They performed CPR on her son and immediately shifted them to the nearby Durgabai Deshmukh Hospital. The doctors informed that she was dead and her son was advised to be shifted to another hospital for better treatment".
DCP of Central Zone, Hyderabad Police, Akshansh Yadav, further explained, "A case has been filed under BNS section 105 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 118(1) r/w 3(5) (voluntarily causing hurt or grievous hurt) at Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint of the family members of the deceased person. It is being investigated. Stringent action as per law will be taken against all the persons responsible for the chaotic situation inside the theatre leading to the death of a person and injury to others".
One can anticipate how if something of this sort would have occurred during the screening of a lesser mortal star's film, the pushback from the audience would have been something that would have quite the grievous impact on the project's business. Pushpa 2, unsurprisingly, is an exception to the rule. Though news of the stampede and its impact broke instantly, it is very easy to see how this had close to no impact on the film's day 1 performance. As per a Sacnilk report, the film's domestic box office report for day 1, stands at a staggering ₹175 crores. Not just this, Pushpa 2's Hindi version has also beat Shah Rukh Khan's Jawan (2023) with the former having minted ₹64 crores yesterday, a neat ₹3 crores higher than SRK's big two-part screen comeback from last year.
Prior to news of the actor and his security team being booked for the stampede, Pushpa 2's production house, Mythri Movie Makers, had briefly addressed the passing of Revathi and her son's critical condition in an X post.
Allu Arjun is yet to make an official comment on the situation. Pushpa 2 has entered day 2 of its theatrical run.
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