Trade experts feel Pushpa 2 – The Rule will not be affected by Mufasa: The Lion King, Baby John: “If word of mouth is extraordinary, then Baby John, Mufasa will face a lot of problems in terms of screen space”

By Fenil Seta -

December 4, 2024 - 7:00 PM IST

All-time grossers like Jawan and Stree 2 had the advantage of an open run. Pushpa 2 – The Rule, sadly, will face competition from Mufasa: The Lion King on December 20 and Varun Dhawan-starrer Baby John on December 5.

Trade experts feel Pushpa 2 – The Rule will not be affected by Mufasa: The Lion King, Baby John: “If word of mouth is extraordinary, then Baby John, Mufasa will face a lot of problems in terms of screen space”

On this, trade veteran Taran Adarsh said, “If content is strong enough like the first part, it’ll be a problem for those films. Mufasa is an international product and has a different audience base but Baby John can get affected.”

Vishek Chauhan, owner of Roopbani Cinema in Purnia, Bihar added, “Definitely Mufasa: The Lion King and Baby John will affect. However, I don’t feel that Mufasa will be competing in the same way as Baby John because it’s a similar product (action entertainer like Pushpa 2). If word of mouth is extraordinary, then Baby John as well as Mufasa will face a lot of problems in terms of screen space. At the same time, by then, the major audience of Pushpa 2 would also be exhausted as everywhere, the film is being released widely, that too across languages. So it might reach the saturation point faster.”

Distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal disagreed, “These films won’t affect at all. If Pushpa 2 – The Rule meets even 70% of the humongous expectations, it’ll have an open run, come what may. It’ll be unstoppable.”

To conclude
The experts also laud Allu Arjun as his presence has added to the excitement big time. Akshaye Rathi said, “If you look at the euphoria around his presence in Patna or even in Mumbai, there’s no doubt that there’s a huge anticipation and excitement around him. With Pushpa 2, he’s only going to consolidate his position as a true-blue Pan India star. He and Prabhas are in a league of their own when it comes to national appeal.”

Kirtibhai signed off by saying, “I am astonished with the ticket sales. After all, there’s no festival on December 5. The schools, colleges and offices are open. And Surat is not a city where people book tickets in advance. Hence, I was expecting more of spot bookings. But the response proves that there’s an immense craze among the public for the film and for Allu Arjun. This is the first time since my theatre started in 2020 that I have got such bookings for a non-festival release.”

He also added, “I hope the film is very good. Or else, the audience might face difficulty sitting for 3 hours and 20 minutes. Animal was also very long but no one complained as the film was very engaging. I hope the same happens with Pushpa 2 as well.”

Also Read: Will Allu Arjun starrer Pushpa 2 – The Rule’s Hindi version cross the first day numbers of Shah Rukh Khan’s Jawan? Trade experts share their views