It’s just 16 or 17 hours since Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 (Hindi dubbed) opened in cinemas and it has already begun to write box-office history. Early estimates suggest that the opening day’s net collection of the dubbed Hindi version alone will be the highest ever recorded by any Hindi film. The current record is held by Jawan. Its Hindi version had collected Rs. 63 crore on the first day which, incidentally, was also a Thursday! Trade know-alls feel, the first day of the Pushpa sequel may close at Rs. 67 or 68 crore. Whatever the final figure, it is almost a foregone conclusion that the day will end at a figure higher than the record-holder Jawan.
The confidence that the Sukumar-directed film will become the new record holder stems from the fact that till 4 p.m. today, the film had netted Rs. 18 crore in the national multiplex chains alone.
If the first day’s record seems all set to be broken, the Allu Arjun starrer is also expected to demolish many other records in the coming days. And not just in terms of box-office numbers! For instance, Inox Raj Imperial multiplex in Surat has decided to conduct round-the clock shows of Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 (dubbed) in all its six screens on Saturday and Sunday. In other words, shows will be held continuously from tomorrow (Saturday) morning and there will be no gap till Monday morning. This may never have happened in exhibition history — shows of a film being held for 48 hours together — without a single break, that too, in all the six screens! One is sure, many other multiplexes must also have decided to conduct shows all through the day and the night in the weekend.
Indeed, to borrow from the dialogue which Allu Arjun’s character in Pushpa: The Rule Part 2 (Hindi dubbed) says in the film, the magic of the sequel is spreading not just like fire but like “wild fire”!