Producers of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa booked for ‘endangering lives’ during pre-release event

A police case has been filed against Mythri Movie Makers, the producers of Tollywood star Allu Arjun’s upcoming film Pushpa: The Rise, for violating safety norms in Hyderabad and endangering human lives. According to reports, the makers were only permitted to gather around 5,000 people for the film’s grand pre-release event, which was held at the Telangana State Special Police Battalion grounds in Yousufguda on Sunday. However, the cops have alleged that the organisers distributed over 15,000 passes to the show, flaunting safety protocols during the pandemic.

“It was not like people came voluntarily, everyone who was in and around the premises was holding passes, which means they sold passes beyond granted permission. The crowd swelled and behaved in an unruly manner causing threat and endangered human life due to rash and negligent acts by the organisers,”Inspector S Rajasekhar Reddy told The Hindu, accusing the makers of misleading the police force and risking a stampede-like situation.

The case has been filed under various sections of IPC on the counts of causing a nuisance, unlawful assembly and endangering the lives of others. The first part of the two-part crime drama is set to open in cinemas on December 17.

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Another promotional event of Pushpa was also affected by overcrowding. The makers were forced to cancel a fan meet organized in Hyderabad after the crowd swelled up to over 2000 people. The permission was only secured for gathering around 200 people.

Pushpa’s makers are now busy promoting the film in various cities across the country. Written and directed by Sukumar, the Allu Arjun-starrer will be released in Telugu along with Tamil, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam languages.