After Pushpa comes Ram Asur in Amazon Prime top trending films

Bollywood gets another shocker with Telugu film Ram Asur being the second most trending movie after Pushpa in Amazon Prime. Released on January 14th, same day Pushpa's Hindi dubbed was released, Ram Asur according to the numbers got from Amazon, has become second most trending film. The film has new comers in the lead except for Chandini Tamilarasan, the actress known in Kollywood for her TV serial Rettai Roja . Ram Asur being a film of debutants  hardly got any hype when released in theaters but critics had praised it. For the budget, the film did okay at the box office. If Pushpa ! is still running in movie halls after OTT release, Ram Asur after the theater release Nov 19, 2021) has now got an extended life through OTT.

Ram Asur might look like a crime thriller  by the story but what makes it stand out is the concept. Director Triparna Venkatesh takes us to the world of synthetic diamond making , a new area. Here e one story is set in 1989, the other story runs concurrently set in 2020. What’s the connection between these two stories - Ram (Ram Karthik) tries to make a synthetic diamond. He tries hard but doesn’t get lucky, leading to depression and fissures  in his relationship with Priya (Sherry Agarwal). They break up, and Ram is disturbed by all the failures. With the help of a friend, Ram meets Ramachari (Shubhalekha Sudhakar), a scholar from Vaidishwarun Koil, Tamil Nadu, with the intention of recovering from the bad phase of his life. At his suggestion, Ram tries to meet a man named Suri (Abhinav Sardar). Who Suri is and how Ram’s life changes after meeting him forms the rest of the story.  

Both Ram Karthik and Abhinav perform excellently. Music by  Bheems Ceciroleo ( Bengal Tiger fame) especially Emchesavo Maya song featuring Chandini was good. Prabhakar Reddy camerawork too is good. The first half goes towards sketching out the characters and second half is just full action and fast paced. Budget constraints play a spoilsport.

Pushpa thanked Ajay Devgn - Ritiesh Deshmukh - Reason revealed

 Pushpa 2- The Rule is the sequel to first part . Reason for Ajay Devgn and Ritiesh Deshmukh being thanked by producers of Pushpa on screen has been revealed. Pushpa's Malayalam version released  only on  Day 2  took Rs 2,15 cr   ( Tamil- Malayalam). With Tamil print alone in Kerala, Day 1 was Rs 1.75 cr. Rs 4,95 cr Net was Tamil Nadu collection. Hindi Net was Rs 6.85 cr. Telugu Net was Rs 60.95 cr. Two day Worldwide is Rs 104, 2 cr with India net being Rs 76.55 cr.

Director Sukumar  say that the second part as expected is the clash between Pushpa and Inspector Singh ( Faasil). The director ruled out any change in cast. Sources said it more deals with the exploitation by lobby of merchants who with political support in Andhra and Tamil Nadu of the laborer's to run their red sanders shipment abroad. Inspector Singh learns that he and his men are used by the lobby to keep Pushpa under  check.  Inspector Singh becomes a game changer in the red sanders smuggling biz.

The second part will have more political overtones. Sources close to the director say that the subject for Part 2 was already locked before Part 1 release. However given the harassment meted out to Pushpa distributors by AP Government in reducing ticket rates and then leaving local bodies to decide with some strict unheard of conditions, Part 2 may look like a hit back by Allu Arjun.

Bollywood sources said that Pushpa's producers  had requested Ajay Devgn to  tweet the link of the trailer of the film’s Hindi version. Ajay did so and tweeted that it was powerful and wished Allu Arjun all success.  Similarly Riteish Deshmukh hhimself tweeted about Pushpa's trailor release. Allu Arjun had wished Sooryavanshi all luck at time of release and in the Mumbai promotional event, he said that Sooryavanshi had opened the gates for Bollywood post pandemic and thanked the team.

As a token of appreciation, producers put the names of these actors in the thankyou credit list on screen.

Update :Fahad Fazil asks Party Ledha Pushpa ? - Trailer takes net by storm

 

Shreyas Talpade has for the first time given voice to Allu Arjun in Pushpa Hindi trailor Usual Manoj Pandey gives voice to Fagad. The last shot of Pushpa The Rise Part 1 trailer shows a bald pated man wearing dark glasses asking Party Ledha Pushpa ? to Allu Arjun It is none other than Fahad Fazil who plays the cop . He is Dhanvar Singh Shekawat , the cop on trail of the man who is cutting red sanders and selling it abroad. Allu Arjun is Pushpa the head of the gang that is leading the plunderers.

Fahad told in an interview that it was physical appearance that made him stand out. His 5'6 height and a receding hairline  made him different from other young heroes of his age, He further added  that he represents those people in the society who are bald, slim, and in that way the characters that he acts on screen  become more relatable to them.

In 24 hrs, trailor created a record - 100K likes in all five languages within 24 hrs. Allu Arjun who usually comes in lover boy role comes as in a full fledged anti- hero role. Mass  high octane stunts- punch dialogues and a raunchy Rashmika to boot offers the trailor. Film releases on December 17th all over South and North India. Twitter guys say that they are waiting for the face off between Arjun and Fahad.

Allu Arjun shells out money to get Pushpa Hindi released

Allu Arjun had to shell out money to save his face as the Bollywood company that bought the Hindi dubbing rights refused to spend any money on promotions or in distribution. The company told Mythiri the production house that Allu Arjun was no pan Indian star and no audience would come to see Pushpa in theaters. The company said that they would release the film on channels including YouTube and not in theaters.

Mythiri who has spent a huge amount on the presumption that Pushpa would do an All India biz was shocked. They had seen the figures of Ala Vaikantapuram and were confident of Pushpa 1 doing good in North and releasing Pushpa 2. Bollywood company told Mythiri that every Telugu actor coming with a huge budget film was not an attraction to North audience and they would be contended watching it on TV with a dubbed version. Ala vaikunthapurramuloo earned 269.35 cr worldwide collection. 

Mythiri however got hold of a company in Mumbai to do the theatrical release/ This time the Hindi dubbing rights holder said that he wanted a share of the profits, if any , but would not spend on promotions. Allu Arjun finally stepped in and decided to take a cut from his remuneration and foot the Hindi version theatre  release and distribution- promotion. Two parts cost Rs 250 crores with Rs 70 crores as Allu Arjuns salary. Pushpa will release in five languages - Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam and Kannada. Directed by Sukumar, the film also stars Rashmika Mandanna and Fahadh Faasil. Pushpa has been co-produced by Mythri Movie Makers and Muttamsetty Media.

Bollywood comanies are waiting for Sooryavanshi biz to decide on the public feedback to theater reopening. Will public sit at home and watch Diwali fare on OTT or come out to emjoy a film ?. Most of shopping has been online and gifts are being given through portals to kith and kin. House visits are rare. This has created a scare among film trade. 

Unlike in Chennai - Hyderabad - Bengaluru where shopping malls and local markets are flowing with shoppers, Mumbai's shopping frenzy has not touched the pre- Covid figures says trade. Will it be the same for theaters ?