‘Allu Arjun’s Pushpa makers booked by police'
Allu Arjun’s latest movie to hit the screen Pushpa: The rise is already making a name for itself but sadly, it’s not a good one so far.
The makers of the movie have been booked by the Telangana police in Hyderabad for “endangering human life” during their pre-release event for the movie.
A police case filed against the producers of Pushpa: The rise allege that the organisers violated the safety norms in Hyderabad and have endangered human lives by creating a stampede like situation and overcrowding amidst the omicron scare amongst the general population.
According to reports, the makers were only permitted to gather around 5,000 people for the film’s grand pre-release event, which was held at the Telangana State Special Police Battalion grounds in Yousufguda on Sunday.
However, the cops have alleged that the organisers distributed over 15,000 passes to the show, flouting safety protocols during the pandemic.
The makers of the movie have been further accused of misleading the police and creating a stampede like situation.
“It was not like people came voluntarily, everyone who was in and around the premises was holding passes, which means they sold passes beyond granted permission. The crowd swelled and behaved in an unruly manner causing threat and endangered human life due to rash and negligent acts by the organisers,” Inspector S Rajasekhar Reddy told The Hindu.
The case has been filed under various sections of IPC on the counts of causing a nuisance, unlawful assembly and endangering the lives of others.
This was not the first time when an issue of overcrowding was visible during the promotion of the much-awaited movie featuring Allu Arjun.
Another promotional event of Pushpa was also affected by overcrowding. The makers were forced to cancel a fan meet organized in Hyderabad after the crowd swelled up to over 2000 people. The permission was only secured for gathering around 200 people.
Pushpa: The rise
Pushpa: The rise is a two-part thriller crime drama in which Allu Arjun is all set to don the cape of a lorry driver who smuggles red sandalwood.
Going by the trailer of the movie, the look of Allu Arjun seems to be of the nefarious bandit Veerapan who attracted a bounty on his head second only to the underworld don Dawood Abraham, making the bounty the second highest ever made by Indian government for capture or information of any person ever.
The film also stars Fahadh Faasil and Rashmika Mandanna among others.
The first part of the two-part crime drama is set to open in cinemas on December 17.
Written and directed by Sukumar, the Allu Arjun-starrer will be released in Telugu originally but the dubbed versions in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam languages will also be releasing all around the country.
“Pushpa marks my reunion with director Sukumar after a decade. Over the years, I’ve asked him many times about collaborating, but he was very particular about doing a project that’ll match the expectations of our combination. That’s how Pushpa was born, and it’s one of the most challenging projects of my career,” Arjun said while answering a question during a promotional event for the movie.
Allu Arjun and the makers of the movie are now busy promoting the film in various cities across the country.
While speaking at the pre-release event, Allu Arjun emphasized on how difficult the shoot was.
Difficulty in Shooting
“Doing Pushpa was equivalent to doing four films.” said Allu Arjun.
Speaking at the pre-release event in Chennai, Arjun spoke about the experience of working on a project that was predominantly shot in the forests along the borders of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for nearly 200 days.
Further, speaking about the difficulty in finishing the shoot, Allu Arjun explained how the COVID pandemic derailed everything and how there was a mini outbreak on the sets with more and more crew members falling victim to the deadly virus.