The latest Telugu film Pushpa: The Rise’s box office collection continues to surprise everyone, especially in the Hindi belt. Within five days of its release, the film has collected a little over Rs 20 crore in North India. And that’s a no small feat when all things are taken into account. Unlike the south Indian states, Pushpa did not get a wide launch in the northern states.
It also faced stiff competition from Marvel’s Spider-Man: No Way Home and many states, including Maharashtra, still have 50 per cent cap on sitting capacity. And more importantly, the filmmakers did very little to promote it in the Hindi heartland owing to the time constraint. Despite all its logistical shortcomings, the film is emerging as a dark horse at the Hindi box office, thanks to positive word of mouth.
Pushpa seems to be the top choice among the patrons of single screens, while the number of shows in multiplexes are also steadily growing. The film has two more days to continue its upward trend before cricket drama 83 arrives in cinemas.
Bollywood star Akshay Kumar has also congratulated the success of Pushpa’s Hindi version. “Congratulations @alluarjun on the massive response you have received from all over India for #PushpaTheRise, another big win for our industry…planning to watch it real soon. @GTelefilms,” he tweed, giving a much-needed last-minute push to the movie.