A stampede, a rift, and a thaw

Stampede at Pushpa 2 screening sparks rift between Telangana government and film industry, leading to political controversy.

The stampede at a special screening of the film, Pushpa 2: The Rule, at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre in early December 2024 following actor Allu Arjun’s “surprise entry” and the events that followed it caused a rift between the Telangana government and sections of the Telugu film industry.

On December 4, a family of four — M. Revathi, her husband M. Bhaskar, and their son and daughter — had gone for the screening at the single-screen theatre. When the actor entered the premises, a stampede broke out and Revathi died. Her son is battling for life in hospital. Soon after the incident, a case was filed against Sandhya Theatre, Allu Arjun, and his security team.

At an event to celebrate the film’s success on December 7, Allu Arjun thanked the Telangana and Andhra Pradesh governments for hiking the prices of tickets and said he was distressed by Revathi’s death. On December 13, the Telangana police arrested the actor. The next day, the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail.

Many believe that the arrest was an act of political vendetta as Allu Arjun appeared to have forgotten Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s name at the event and mentioned it only after the audience shouted it out. It was this momentary lapse that landed him to jail, they allege.

Some Congress leaders believe that this was a deliberate act to undermine the Chief Minister’s importance, especially since the actor had extended a special note of thanks to the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu.

Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) working president K.T. Rama Rao added fuel to the fire by saying film stars who have taken concessions from the government cannot even recognise Mr. Reddy as the Chief Minister. A family member of Allu Arjun’s revealed that Mr. Rama Rao’s comments worsened matters and said that he should have refrained from using this episode to settle political scores.

In the Telangana Assembly, Mr. Reddy was forceful, asserting that the law applied equally to all citizens, irrespective of their status. He added that the law would take its course. He also said that the actor behaved irresponsibly when the police tried to arrest him. Mr. Reddy then lambasted the film industry for not responding to the woman’s death, implying that the film industry and the Opposition appeared more sympathetic towards the actor than the woman’s family.