Why did Pushpa come to Patna?
There has been a widespread debate on the question why Allu Arjun chose Patna for the trailer launch of his much talked about upcoming film Pushpa 2. While in his trailer Pushpa calls himself international and also a big brand. Photographs and videos of the crowd gathered at the trailer launch at Patna Gandhi Maidan are being shared on social media with interesting comments. Historic crowd of people from Bihar at the historic Gandhi Maidan. He was basically a movie lover. I was crazy about Allu Arjun. Pushpa didn’t bend…she was about to die in the dialogue. I was a fan of his unique style of waving his palm under his beard. This historic opportunity has come for those busy Bihari youth who are ready to dance in Khesari and Nirahua style at any time. Gandhi Maidan open sky and free rain of fun. Loot if you can. Today Srivalli has also come with Pushpa. The icing on the cake is that a season like this is not repeated over and over again.
Believe me, most of them were ordinary spectators. Which was handled brilliantly by Pushpa’s actors – Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna. Allu began his speech in Hindi: “My greeting to the holy land of Bihar.” Then Rashmika adopted Bhojpuri: ‘How are you! Everything’s fine!’ Then laughter! He had caught the Bhojpuri accent. Allu also apologized for the bad Hindi, but he didn’t know that even ordinary viewers of Bihar can’t speak that pure Hindi. Later, Allu switched from Hindi to English, but Rashmika took the path from Bhojpuri to Hindi. Rashmika’s bright smile was driving the Bihari youth crazy.
Connectivity of the general public with cinema
Now, how can we see this enormous performance by limiting it to the promotion of an upcoming movie? In fact, this was a huge attack on the Bombay film people in the name of publicity. Pushpa’s team took advantage of the classes to watch open-air cinema in Patna, which has been abandoned for the last two decades. They were kicked out of the multiplex. And this class is – the general audience. The same common public that once bought cheap tickets and went to see movies in the auditoriums and turned the heroes into superstars with their whistles and applause. But in Patna there was a gathering of both mass and class spectators.
Around the year 2000, when the multiplex network expanded first in big cities and then in small towns, the common audience was deprived of watching movies and the days of superstars were left behind. In today’s era of multiplexes, even Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh Bachchan would hardly have achieved the huge success they had earlier due to the common audience’s craze for the single screen. In the nineties, Salman and Shahrukh also became young after winning the love of the general public. Allu Arjun and Rashmika Mandanna were happy after finding the same love once again at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. In his speech, he repeatedly appealed to the love of the people of Patna.
Why did the viewership of Hindi films decline?
Without considering how the changes in cinemas and the techniques and content of Hindi films in the metropolitan areas affected the business of the film industry, Bombay filmmakers continued to make films according to the mood of the popcorn-loving public. . Bombay filmmakers targeted more audiences who could afford to attend multiplexes and spend more. As a result, the number of viewers decreased and the films sank. If we talk about post-Covid, in between, the audience went to the cinema to watch those Hindi films that had the potential to shake the mood of the masses, like The Kashmir Files, The Kerala Story, Jawan, Pathan, Danki, Stree 2 or Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. Like some movies.
Young artists continue Rajinikanth’s tradition.
On the other hand, the filmmakers of the South never abandoned the awareness with which the common public used to go to the cinema to watch films. It is worth noting that South Indian filmmakers are more advanced than Bombay filmmakers, but they never played with the sensibilities of the mass audience. While it captured the class audience, it also always retained the elements that appeal to the masses. Low-budget films also appeal to general audiences. Even today, when a Rajinikanth film releases, it becomes a holiday without Holi, Diwali, Eid, New Year and audiences from every section go to the cinema hall. That tradition of Rajinikanth was continued by the stars of the new generation. Of course, these can include star names like Mahesh Babu, Prabhas, Allu Arjun, Jr. NTR, Ram Charan, Pawan Kalyan.
Now Bollywood should care about the common audience.
Evidently these stars have now reached the national level. His dubbed films are widely watched across the country in all languages including Hindi. In the last decade, films like Baahubali, KGF, Ponnium Selvam, RRR and Pushpa were liked by all sections of society at a pan-India level. The general audience of the Hindi belt saw the X factor in these films compared to those in Bombay. It showed an Indian Hollywood that has both Indianness and global cinematography. While Mumbai filmmakers are famous for cooking khichdi in their products. Sometimes, they like medium-budget films with content like 12th Fail or Missing Ladies or those in which several stars participate with all their might, then the audience goes to the cinema hall, otherwise they prefer to watch films from South Cinema or from Hollywood. In such a situation, this attack by Allu Arjun from Patna will alert the people of Bollywood. Bollywood should focus on taking care of the emotions and sensitivities of the common audience; Otherwise, how will they be able to get their films to the common audience?
