Pushpa 2 mayhem: Stampedes in theatres, protests, and fireworks mishaps; legal woes for Allu Arjun

Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna starrer Pushpa 2: The Rule hit the theatres on December 4, 2024. The movie has broken all records and minted over Rs 65 crore in Hindi, surpassing the previous best, Jawan, which scored Rs 64 crore upon its release in 2024.

Despite being a weekday and a non-holiday, the film has the major contribution of 48 per cent from the top 6 multiplex players.

On the first day of its release, fans thronged to watch the film Pushpa 2. However, an unforeseen incident led to chaos at Bengaluru's theatre. During a showing of the film, the fans danced to the songs of the movie in theatres. A fan began bursting firecrackers in the hall. There was a loud noise, much to the dismay of theatre employees, as they feared damage to the screen. Meanwhile, fans began arguing with the staff, and there were attempts to beat them. This was when the employees contacted police for help, who later arrived to restore order.

The Bangalore incident happened a day after a stampede outside Sandhya Theatre, Hyderabad, which left one 35-year-old woman dead and badly injured her 9-year-old son.

The stampede incident took place on Wednesday night when a large number of fans thronged the Sandhya theatre here to have a glimpse of the Allu Arjun.

According to police, the victim has been identified as 35-year-old Revathi. She was accompanied by her 13-year-old son Sreethej, who also suffered suffocation and is being treated in a hospital where he is kept under 48-hour observation.

Following the news of the woman's death, a large protest erupted outside the movie theatre. The protesters, including members of the SFI students' union and DYFI, staged an agitation demanding a ban on midnight premieres.

Allu Arjun booked over woman's death during Pushpa 2 Hyderabad premier

The police registered the case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under sections 105 (Whoever commits culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 118(1) (punishment for intentionally causing hurt or grievous hurt) with 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint by the deceased's family.

"Case has been registered against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management over the incident," official sources told PTI.

Pushpa 2 screening in Mumbai theatre disrupted 

Not just in Bangalore and Hyderabad, the Pushpa 2 screening was interrupted at Bandra's Gaitey-Galaxy theatre in Mumbai on Thursday after an unknown person allegedly sprayed some substance causing sickness among movie-watchers.

The Mumbai police said that the three-hour-long movie show was paused for nearly 20 minutes after the interval as some of the members of the audience complained of health issues such as coughing, vomiting, and throat irritation.

Videos of people experiencing cough and nausea during the show were posted on social media platforms.

Soon, the police arrived at the scene and began a preliminary probe to ascertain if someone had actually sprayed some substance inside the theatre, said an officer.