From three 18-year-old polytechnic students who have been waiting for “two months” to a group of three wedding car decorators and a 52-year-old clothier looking for entertainment – Thursday, December 5 at 11 am Chandra Talkies, A. A single screen theater in Muzaffarnagar city is thronged to watch Pushpa 2 (The Rule), its Hindi dubbed version. A Telugu “Pan-Indian Film” starring Allu Arjun.
A few minutes later, the film rolls and as Arjun enters – in slow motion, of course – the 360-seat hall is filled with cheers, loud whistles and screams.oh your“.
With the success of SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali (Parts 1 & 2), Telugu films that grossed an estimated Rs 250 crore in the Hindi-speaking market, and KGF (Parts 1 & 2), Kannada films whose Hindi dubs grossed over Rs 500 crore. High-octane, masala tentpole films from the south have found a market in the north, especially in the heartland. States of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. This is the geography that Bollywood, which has over the years moved away from films that cater to the masses and which has been unable to create a new crop of superstars, has long been vacant.
Dubbed in Hindi and five other languages, Pushpa 2 is being watched exclusively at this place. Last month, the filmmakers also launched the trailer in Patna – an unusual market for a Telugu film – where an estimated two lakh people cheered as Arjun addressed them and asked them to forgive him for his “slightly sloppy” Hindi.
Producer and film business expert Girish Johar says, “With 12,000 screens across the world, Pushpa 2 is the widest for any Indian film.” Out of which there are an estimated 1,000 screens in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand.
Pushpa 2’s strategy to focus on the North Indian market comes after the success of Pushpa 1 (The Rise). When it was released in December 2021, the film was expected to overtake the big release – the Ranveer Singh-starrer 83, the 1983 Indian World Cup-winning cricket team film – outside its core Telugu market in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But surprisingly, this film held more than its own. According to Bollywood film trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the film has earned Rs 26.89 crore from the first week in North India.
So when it came to the sequel, it was definitely expected to be a shot bet, especially for single screens like Chandra Talkies in Muzaffarnagar, where tickets cost Rs 100 and Rs 150. The price is in between.
Ahead of Thursday’s release, the theater saw online bookings for 123 of its 360 seats – a “rare, good sign”, explains theater manager Mirza Asif Hussain, 34.
Sanjay Ghai, the owner of Chandra Talkies Theatre, which has five screens in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, says that he expects to earn Rs 50 lakh during the next three weeks.
In the darkness of the movie theater, everything is a hero. Arjun fills the screen as Pushpa, a laborer from Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh, who becomes the head of a sandalwood smuggling syndicate, plays cat and mouse with a sandalwood IPS officer and takes on corrupt politicians.
At the slightest hint of the song, many in the audience join in the dance and some take out their phones to sing along to make reels. At the end of the three-hour extravaganza, Kalram, a daily wage earner, says he was impressed by Pushpa’s courage. “The best part about him is, Who doesn’t face why? (Do not bow down to anyone).”
Salim, a 27-year-old mason, says he likes “fight‘ and ‘Pyar-Mohabbat’ is in his film. He says, ‘This film has both. “South films are simple… there are no galat (wrong) scenes. You can watch it with the family.”
Owais, who works at a hospital and “usually watches movies with his girlfriend”, was particularly moved by “the fight scene at the end with Pushpa’s hands and feet tied”. “Wow sabe khatanak tha (That was the best part)”.
Hussain, who has been managing the theater for 10 years, says, ‘The reason for the success of some of these films from the South is because of their association with them.zameen (Ground) “. “When people come to see a movie and pay for a ticket, they come for something. Such films are meant for many audiences. Some Bollywood films don’t relate to the audience… For example, Pushpa 2 doesn’t have a single English dialogue.