During its lifetime, Baahubali: The Beginning (Hindi) had collected Rs. 117 crores. Had anyway commented before the release of Pushpa: The Rise Part 1 (Hindi) that it would actually come quite close to that eventually then he would have been laughed away. After all, the hype was not even 5% of the SS Rajamouli film, the scale wasn’t even comparable, the release wasn’t huge, there was no backer in Hindi like Karan Johar and very importantly, these are pandemic times.
Well, the unthinkable has actually happened, what with the film actually coming close to this lifetime. No, it will not touch Rs. 117 crores. However it is set to come in a breathing distance of the film since Rs. 110 crores are there for the taking now. After playing in theatres for eight weeks and now in its ninth weekend, the film has in fact reached Rs. 106 crores*, which is an unbelievable total. At the single screens of the interiors there are continued footfalls and in the last three-four weeks, even the songs have gained much bigger popularity. There are also memes galore which have caught up amongst the youth as well, which is only allowing the film to gain further traction.
The film is a blockbuster already and it is one of those rare success stories that comes in four or five years. Considering that it has happened during pandemic, it is all the more reason to celebrate.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited
