Allu Arjun: From child artiste and Telugu hero to pan India star of ‘Pushpa’ fame

PTI, Dec 13, 2024, 8:48 PM IST

New Delhi: Dizzying success, arrest and then bail — and all in a day. The pendulum swung widely for Telugu superstar and the toast of mainstream cinema Allu Arjun on Friday when he grabbed headlines of the most unexpected kind, a plot line that could rival any of his potboilers.

On Thursday, the 42-year-old actor was in Delhi to celebrate the massive success of “Pushpa 2: The Rule”, which is his career’s biggest hit and also in the record books as the first Indian film to earn Rs 1,000 crore in just six days. The very next day, police were at his Hyderabad home to arrest him in connection with the death of a woman in a stampede during the premiere of the film.

He was taken into custody with tight security and taken to the police station in a police vehicle. As reports spoke of him not being able to finish his breakfast and visuals showed him sipping a cup of coffee with cops all around him, Allu Arjun had much of the nation, particularly his fandom, transfixed.

The action star was sent to jail after a local court remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. And then granted four week interim bail by the Telangana High Court a short while later.

Can this really happen to a star, and one as powerful and popular as Allu Arjun? The questions flew, dominating conversations in offices, homes and elsewhere. “Pushpa 2: The Rule” follows the success of “Pushpa: The Rise” in 2021. The sequel released with dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Bengali, and Malayalam, three more than the first edition.

Allu Arjun comes with many film connections.

Born on April 8, 1982, in Chennai, he is the son of prominent film producer Allu Aravind. His grandfather was well-known comedian Allu Ramalingaiah, who starred in over 1,000 films.

He is related to another current star of Telugu cinema — Ram Charan, the son of his aunt Surekha and megastar Chiranjeevi.

Allu Arjun started out as a child artist with Chiranjeevi’s “Vijetha” in 1985. In 2003, he debuted as a male lead with “Gangotri”.

Sukumar, the man behind “Pushpa” franchise, gave Arjun his first hit with “Arya”. The film catapulted the actor to stardom. He followed it with commercially successful titles such as “Bunny” (2005), “Desamuduru” (2007), “Arya 2” (2009), “Vedam” (2010), “Iddarammayilatho” (2013) and “Yevadu” (2014).

His fans cite his charismatic screen presence, energetic dance performances and stylish persona for the stardom. They have bestowed him with the sobriquet “Stylish Star”.

The Telugu star became known to audiences across the country in 2020 with “Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo”, a family drama and comedy. The movie was remade in Hindi with Kartik Aaryan as a lead but failed to click with audiences. They had already watched the Hindi-dubbed version on OTT.

“Pushpa: The Rise” was the turning point in his career, bringing him pan-India stardom and punchy dialogues recounted and replayed again and again. His character Pushparaj, a labourer who rises to become sandalwood smuggler, and his many famous Hindi-dubbed dialogues such as ‘jhukega nahi’ or ‘Pushpa flower nahi, fire hai’, found resonance with audiences all over.

In fact, Pushparaj’s gesture swirling his hand through his beard became so famous and recognisable that former Australian cricketer David Warner used it whenever he scored a century. The cricketer has reenacted the gesture in many Instagram reels as well.

“Pushpa: The Rise”, directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, made over Rs 300 crore in India.

The pan-India fanbase had been waiting for the sequel and lapped it up. It was released on December 5. The day before, the stampede broke out in a Hyderabad hall with thousands of clamouring to have a glimpse of Allu Arjun. A 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son is in hospital.

Last week, the actor announced Rs 25 lakh to the family of the deceased and also assured the grieving family that they are not alone in this painful situation and he will meet the family personally.