Icon star Allu Arjun’s Pushpa
The Rise had a theatrical release in all South languages and Hindi on December 17. Opened to mixed reports, this Sukumar directorial is still continuing its magical dream run in the North belt.
Though the film is out on OTT space Amazon Prime on January 7 ( in all South languages) and on January 14 in Hindi version, the film is refusing to stop at the Bollywood box office. Reportedly, by the end of its fifth weekend, the Hindi version of Pushpa-The Rise alone has minted a whopping Rs 88 crore. The closing grand total of the Hindi version by the end of the fifth weekend is said to be Rs 90 crore as the film utilized the Makar Sankranti festival advantage last Saturday and Sunday.
Business Transformation Expert and Bollywood Astrologer Hirav Shah says, “When Pushpa premiered on Prime Video during Sankranthi season, there was chatter within the industry that this Allu Arjun starrer will finally slow down at the box-office. The conclusions were drawn from the fact that the film was now available on OTT at the click of a button. However, Allu Arjun has demolished and defied all the myths as it has continued to do supremely well at the box-office despite a digital premiere.”
If the film maintains the same momentum, it has a high chance to enter into the magical Rs 100 crore club in the North belt itself. As the Hindi version of Pushpa has turned into a massive blockbuster, Bollywood filmmakers and the audience are showing interest in watching Allu Arjun’s previous films, which itself is proof that he is going to give a tough challenge to other Bollywood stars in the coming days.
It is well-known that earlier, with the Baahubali series, Prabhas emerged as the biggest superstar in India, and his movies have been receiving huge demand from the North belt. Now, with Pushpa-The Rise, the craze of Allu Arjun among the mass and youth audience in the North belt reached the next level, and they are waiting to watch the second part, Pushpa- The Rule.
As Prabhas and Allu Arjun turned as the hot favorite for the North belt audience, after the release of ace director SS Rajamouli’s prestigious project, RRR, Tollywood stars NTR and Ram Charan is also expected to enjoy the same reach in the North belt.
Hirav Shah concludes by saying, “While it doesn’t have as big a cliffhanger as KGF or Baahubali, the Pushpa sequel is sure to be among the biggest openers upon its release.
The trend of theatrical business is a sign of unconditional acceptance from the Hindi belt audience, and with a television premiere soon, the reach will elevate further. While OTT as a platform has been hyped on various social media platforms, the audience for a commercial film like Pushpa will always be higher on TV than in the digital world.
These two mediums will always be an alternative to the theatrical world but not a replacement, be it OTT or TV. It’s accepted commercial films and mass entertainers like Pushpa that will consolidate the saying. Hopefully, in the future months, we would get ample of such projects from Bollywood and the Southern industry, which would revive the sinking ship of the film industry.”
