At the fag end of 2024, a year when the Hindi film industry struggled to “rise” to audience expectations, Pushpa 2: The Rule seems to have saved the day. (File Photo)
Dec 5, 2024 16:16 IST First published on: Dec 5, 2024 at 16:16 IST
In Pushpa: The Rise, which released three years ago, a catchline repeated by the titular protagonist (essayed by Allu Arjun) was “Puspha flower nahin, fire hai main (Don’t mistake Puspha for flower, I’m fire)”. In the much-anticipated second installment of this franchise, Pushpa 2: The Rule, the protagonist makes it evident that he is no longer happy just being branded as “fire”. He now wants to be “wildfire”.
Just like Pushpa — who rises from being a daily wage labourer to a powerful smuggler of red sandalwood — the ambition and scale of the film too has grown significantly. The plot is incidental; the film exists mainly to serve the protagonist, giving him a mythical aura and the superhuman strength to fight an army of baddies even when his hands and legs are tied. With a runtime of 200 minutes, the film, which hit theatres today, indulges in unabashed idolatry. It is a cinematic celebration of the male ego, with Pushpa adopting “jhukega nahin (won’t bend or compromise)” as his life’s mantra.
At the fag end of 2024, a year when the Hindi film industry struggled to “rise” to audience expectations, Pushpa 2: The Rule seems to have saved the day. The signs of a box-office storm were evident from the moment Pushpa 2’s trailer dropped. The film’s impact is more emphatic since it has become a pan-Indian phenomenon. Its trailer was launched at Patna’s Gandhi Maidan nearly three weeks ahead of its release, with a massive crowd turning up to catch a glimpse of lead actors Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna. Picking Patna as the venue for this grand promotional event, especially when it is not known to be a major centre for cinema, was definitely not a fluke. It was a deliberate choice that sent out the message that Pushpa 2 should not be categorised as just another “south Indian film”. From the start, it was positioned as a pan-Indian spectacle that would entice audiences to leave the comforts of their living room.
That plan seems to have worked. BookMyShow revealed that Pushpa 2 has officially made history, crossing a staggering three million tickets in advance sales, the highest ever in India. Earlier, according to Sacnilk.com, the film’s pre-release business was projected to be around Rs 1,000 crore, which included theatrical rights that have been valued at Rs 600 crore worldwide. Its OTT rights were acquired by Netflix for Rs 275 crore, and satellite rights were sold for Rs 85 crore. The film’s music rights have also been reportedly sold for Rs 65 crore. Pushpa: The Rise had reportedly grossed Rs 400 crore.
It helps that, right from the start, the makers of Pushpa had conceived this as a larger-than-life entertainer. Just as Bahubali 1: The Beginning (2015) ended with Kattappa revealing that he killed Amarendra Baahubali, Pushpa: The Rise too ends with a cliffhanger: The protagonist avenges his humiliation by making IPS officer Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat (Fahadh Faasil) take off all his clothes, thus setting the stage for an on-screen showdown between two of India’s biggest stars.
most read
Yet, it is the narrative, and the expected pay-off that was set up in the first film, that let down the sequel. The film allows Arjun, as Pushpa, to grab most of the screen time while Fahadh, as a corrupt cop, is reduced to playing a caricaturish villain. The sequel, perhaps as a result of the overwhelming — maybe unexpected — pan-Indian success of the 2021 original, sacrifices much at the altar of its protagonist who is frequently compared to or called “god”. It doesn’t matter that he is wiping out precious sandalwood forests and killing whoever he assumes is on the wrong side or has crossed him. While it is implied that Pushpa carries the trauma of not being allowed to use his father’s name, there is no nuanced attempt to express that pain. Pushpa struts around in flashy, flower printed shirts and wears multiple gold chains and rings as if to overcompensate for being ridiculed as an “illegitimate son”.
Male protagonists carrying such a burden of shame is not new. The exploration of such trauma has been fodder for great, entertaining films, like Deewar (1975) with a brooding antihero who had “mera baap chor hai” tattooed on his arm, and Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978) where the protagonist is an orphan who doesn’t even have a name till he finds a foster mother. Pushpa 2, with a plot that has been weakened in service to its star’s larger-than-life character, does not have the same gravitas. But then, it is an unfair comparison. Pushpa 2 is not looking for depth, and neither is it really interested in its protagonist’s trauma and his inner life. Instead, the film relies heavily on Puspha’s swagger and the now popular “jhukega nahin” gesture — where he slides his hand under his bearded chin and flicks it upward — to take the audience on an entertaining ride with choreographed action set-pieces, elaborate dance numbers and grand settings. And as the cash rolls in and records break, the ground is prepared for Pushpa 3: Rampage.
