Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna starrer Pushpa: The Rise was released exactly one year ago today. Both Allu and Rashmika were big stars in the Southern film world prior to the release of this movie and also well-known faces in the North belt. However, the level of pan-India success this movie achieved was never expected.
Not only did 'Pushpa: The Rise' became a big blockbuster but it once again emphasized that movies can make a big impact on the audience so much so that at times dialogues and attitudes of the movie stars can, in the long run, become a part of the social culture.
Allu Arjun’s Pushpa won the Indian hearts with swag
Just as the dialogues from the movie Sholay are remembered even today and the song Mehbooba Mehbooba is considered a cult hit song, the dialogues from Pushpa: The Rise like “Fire hai flower nahi,” the way Pushpa says it with the swag and songs like Saami Saami and O o Antava have now become classics. From small children, and adults to even superstars like Amitabh Bachchan could not stop themselves from emulating Allu Arjun’s famous dialogue.
Now fans across entire India are eagerly waiting for the sequel to hit the theaters.
Pushpa gave hope to the Indian film industry
When Pushpa: The Rise was released, India was coming out of the lockdown and pandemic time. After this movie, Ranveer Singh’s much-awaited 83 was also released around the same time but it turned out to be a disaster. It was a crucial time for the Indian film industry as most of the big movies from superstars like Akshay Kumar (Bell Bottom) and Salman Khan (Antim: The Final Truth) failed to win the hearts of the audience.
Although Akshay’s Sooryavanshi was a hit, it was not a big blockbuster. It was Pushpa: The Rise, a South Indian movie that gave Bollywood its first taste of a very big hit. While the Southern stars were waiting for the KGF sequel and SS Rajamouli’s RRR to emerge as pan India superhits, Pushpa 1 surprised everyone with the way it continued to run for weeks together in Mumbai’s multiplexes.
That is when finally, the Bollywood producers, distributors, and actors started acknowledging the movie, discussing why Southern movies are better and more successful today in Bollywood and where the Hindi cinema is failing. Undoubtedly, it was SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali that turned the attention of the entire nation towards the Southern film industry.
Bollywood now accepts that it needs to learn from the Southern film industry
Yash as Rocky Bhai in KGF managed to reach the masses of the country and then it was Pushpa: The Rise that established the fact that top-class acting, honest efforts, and relatable and original content will always have an audience and that is where Bollywood is lacking.
And now even big directors and producers like Karan Johar have accepted that Bollywood lacks conviction and originality and it's time it learns these things from the Southern film industry. Baahubali and KGF opened the doors but Pushpa: The Rise established it and now RRR and KGF 2 are taking the legacy further.