A year and half back, on April 8, 2022, just a few weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown, South superstar Allu Arjun unveiled the first look of Pushpa: The Rise. It had a close-up shot of the actor in an unkempt look wearing a stained shirt. It took the internet by storm and reportedly accumulated a massive response with over 84,000 plus likes in just under 24 hours. It also became the most liked first look posters on Twitter in the given time frame.
The first of the two-part film Pushpa released on December 17, and has now emerged as one of the biggest money-spinners of the year despite being a strictly regional film, with actors and technicians from the South. Despite the low pre-release buzz and stiff competition from one of Hollywood’s biggest films of the year, Spider-Man: No Way Home, the Allu-Arjun starrer has done phenomenally well, even for Hindi version. According to trade analyst Manobala Vijayabal, the film has collected Rs 186.81 crore worldwide.
But the interesting fact is that the Hindi version of the film has managed to earn a massive Rs 39.95 crore (till Monday) and is still going strong in it’s second week despite Ranveer Singh’s 83 which released last week. In terms of pan-India films, Pushpa opened better than Yash’s KGF: Chapter 1 (2018), which had minted Rs 2 crore on its opening day, and around 40% lower than the first part of Baahubali which had a solo release in the pre-pandemic era (2015).
So, what is that which makes Allu Arjun such a phenomenon among the Hindi speaking audience and the mass Hindi belts in North India?
Producer Manish Shah of Goldmines Telefilms, who specialises in acquiring and dubbing popular regional films in Hindi and has acquired many of Arjun’s films says, “All Allu Arjun movies which have been dubbed in Hindi have broken records on satellite. His film Sarrainodu released in 2016 and the dubbed version was telecast on satellite around four and half years back. In January 2021, the film still remained to be the number one watched movie on television across the Hindi market. Most of his films have broken all records on YouTube. That is the kind of power he commands.”
The euphoria generated by the Allu Arjun’s all round image has placed him ahead of all the other contemporary actors in the South region. He is making the most of these good times to strengthen his grip by choosing the correct scripts which are liked by not only Telugu speaking audiences but across the country.
His fans swear by him. I witnessed the Allu Arjun phenomenon when I went to the music launch of his last release, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo in Hyderabad. “My fans are more than just fans, they are an army,” declared the Telugu superstar. A wave of cheer arose from the 10,000-strong crowd, gathered at the Yousufguda Police grounds, on hearing his statement. The event was an apt barometer to gauge the actor’s immense popularity — the fans, sporting T-shirts bearing his picture, broke into applause every time he came to speak.
But that was his home ground. What is the reason behind Arjun’s rise in Hindi belts?
“Apart from his dubbed films being popular among the Hindi speaking audience, what has also worked in his favour is the fact that the actor has being doing films in a variety of genres that appeal across India. His last release Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo emerged as one of the highest grossers in Telugu industry,” says trade analyst Taran Adarsh. The movie is now being remade in Hindi with Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon and has been titled Shehzada. Portions of the Hindi version have been shot in Delhi.
Talking about his latest release Pushpa, Adarsh points out that the film has shattered all myths, “It is not necessary to have extensive and expensive pre-release promotions for attracting audiences. Allu Arjun had just one press conference in Mumbai, a day prior to the film’s release. Eventually, the content does the talking when a film releases and Pushpa is a clear winner when it comes to content.”
During a recent same press interaction, the 38-year-old actor made his intentions clear that he wants to do a straight Hindi film and is waiting for the right script, “I definitely want to do a straight Hindi film. It will be a landmark point in my career and I want to make the best possible choice for it. There have been a few offers but nothing really interesting or exciting has come up. Also, people who come to me, they say they have to come with something solid. Once everything falls into place, I’ll try to plan and come up with something big.”
Arjun is a trendsetter. Anything and everything looks good on him and his fans love to emulate him. His dance moves in films like Bunny, Julayi, Race Gurram, Sarrainodu are a rage among his fans. Numerous fans went on to repeat the ‘Beedi’ scene on TikTok from Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. The actor had to request his fans not to copy everything that he does on-screen, “I had to smoke for the sake of the movie but in real life, I don’t smoke. I urge all my fans to don’t imitate this smoking act,” he had stated earlier.
Even his co-actors talk about his dedication towards the craft. Pooja Hegde, who shared the screen-space with the Arjun in Duvvada Jagannadham, DJ and Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo has always been impressed of the actor’s dancing skills, “I saw him dance in this movie, especially in the ‘Seeti Maar’ song and I was floored. He nailed every step. He is the Telugu Michael Jackson for sure. He is very passionate and excited about what he does. I got to learn a lot from him,” Hegde mentioned at a press conference in 2017.
In a recent interview to News18.com, his Pushpa co-actor Mandana shared, “It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Allu Arjun. I just love the person that he is. He makes me feel confident and comfortable with myself and I love working with people like that. It has been a dream come true for me. I have been blessed to be a part of this film.”
The line-up of his upcoming films is just incredible. It was recently reported that the actor will start shooting for the second instalment of Pushpa by February. He will also be collaborating with director Venu Sriram for the first time for a film tentatively titled Icon. The actor has also reportedly green light a project with Sarrainodu director Boyapati Srinu. After completing these films, the actor is apparently going to collaborate with KGF director Prashanth Neel.
Surely, there is no stopping this Icon Star.
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