What Makes Pushpa The  Most Successful Indian Film Since Pandemic Started? Trade Experts Speak

By now , the  entire world and its favourite  trade analysts know that  director Sukumar’s  Pushpa The  Rise is  a phenomenal success .

Originally in Telugu, this  Allu Arjun starrer has  accumulated a  staggering  profit of   Rs 40 crores  in its dubbed  Hindi version.If the  film had not gone to the Amazon Prime  this week, Pushpa The Rise would have  shown no fall in its boxoffice figures  despite the  new wave of  the Covid pandemic. What  is  it that pulled the multitudes out of  the  relative safety of their homes to the high-risk  zone  of  movie theatres? Trade  knowledgeable  kick  in  with their opinion.

Taran  Adarsh(trade guru):   Pandemic era…Non-holiday release [one week before Christmas] ….Tough opponents [SpiderMan in Week 1; 83 in Week 2]…Minimal promotions + limited screens/shows… Normal ticket pricing [not enhanced rates].Pushpa braves it all…What made it  so successful?  Several factors, in my opinion.

* One, Allu Arjun’s popularity and rich fanbase in Hindi market thanks to the dubbed versions available on YouTube and satellite channels.

* Two, the wholesome content it offers. Complete masala entertainer.

* Three, weak opposition in 83 gave Pushpa ample breathing space to fly high. 83 appealed more to the metros, but Pushpa, with its wholesome content, appealed to metros as well as Tier 2 and Tier 3 belt.

A well made masala film will never go out of fashion. Pushpa proved it yet again.”

Nagarjuna(actor-superstar Telugu cinema): “The  success  of Pushpa: The Rise is  indeed an eye-opener  for  all filmmakers and trade experts who thought  it was too regional in flavour to appeal to a Pan-India audience. The fact is, Pushpa  has done much much better  in  the  dubbed Hindi  version than in the original Telugu version. If the boxoffice collections were  to be judged by the performance  of  the Telugu version only, Pushpa wouldn’t  qualify as much of a success. How do we  explain this  phenomenon?”

Adivi Sesh(Telugu actor):  “It’s a film made with conviction, without alterations by marketing departments, to cater to a particular set of the audience.”

Mayank Shekhar(film critic):  “The mass/masala, theatrical, all-genre entertainer—in parts romance, comedy, action; both extreme heroism & villainy… Hardcore, desi audiences found it in Pushpa, & not 83, for instance. They’d been craving it, evidently.

With regional language dubs the norm for years on Hindi movie channels, plus access to masala films from the South through OTT/Internet, language is seemingly no more the issue.

Bollywood needn’t always bother with remakes of Telugu films in order to bolster Bombay stars for North Indian audiences, as it were (as was the case, say, with Salman Khan for Wanted, or Shahid Kapoor with Kabir Singh).

Pushpa’s incredible, sleeper success proves the pan-India Baahubali was not a fluke!”

Suneel Darshan:  “Guess it’s perhaps the only Indian film released since- unpretentious, unapologetic, hardcore and  not appearing to be a Hollywood/American.”

Atul Mohan(trade analyst):  “Opening at 3 crores  on day 1 with limited screens and publicity and less support by multiplexes, Pushpa The Rise rose to 80+ crores till date and that’s phenomenal… Changing the rules of the game post-pandemic, the success of Pushpa proves that the public wants paisa vasool entertainers to lure them to cinemas and Pushpa delivers all that masala to its paisa-paying audience. The one-liners like “Pushpa Jhukega Nahi” and “Pushpa is not flower, its fire” have become a rage among youngsters and we can see its memes online and all this adds to the craze of the film. Allu Arjun is already popular in Hindi belt thanks to his past dubbed films available on youtube and satellite channels. Manish Shah of Goldmines who owns most of the Hindi rights of Allu Arjun starrers knew Arjun’s  popularity and is now laughing all the way to bank.”

Girish Johar(trade  analyst): “Despite the SOPs and restrictions across the states, Pushpa has grossed phenomenal numbers not only at the domestic box office but overseas too. It has collected a whopping 300  crore rupees  at the global box office, which truly, no one was expecting. Yes, lack of competition did prove beneficial.But it also boasted  of the content which the public liked and which  they preferred to enjoye in cinemas. Clearly, it was preferred despite some biggies as opposition because of its presentation, its making and its writing. The characters simply connected with the audiences. Despite being a simple story, the performances of all the actors truly upped the film. It was clearly the masala entertainer  content which audiences were looking for. And surprisingly despite no major promotions, it has been lapped up by the Hindi audiences as well. Pushpa has firmly put across to the film  fraternity that marketing gimmicks will no longer help at the box office, it’s sheer content  that counts.”