Pushpa (Hindi) has emerged as a huge blockbuster at the box office. The film has grossed ₹86 crores (₹72 crores Nett) approx in India in its first three weeks of the run, earning a share of ₹31 crores. The film is still going strong at the box office and is expected to go around ₹115 crores (₹95 crores Nett) if cinemas remain open for the next three to four weeks. The final theatrical share from the Hindi version can go as high as ₹40 crores, which is more than what the film was acquired by Goldmines, with non-theatrical revenue (₹30-50 crores expected) being an absolute bonus.
Before the release of the film, there were many that were completely writing off the film, with many in Mumbai trade propagating the film looking like a Telugu film and not gonna work with the Hindi audiences. There was a point when the theatrical release was altogether expected to let go, going directly for a digital release but thankfully better sense prevailed.
There wasn’t any extensive marketing campaign but just the digital promotion of trailers and songs. It was the years of developing a market by Allu Arjun via satellite premieres of his films that came to display and the film took opened to strong occupancies in Central and Eastern India on opening day, shocking the Mumbai trade with ₹4 crores (₹3.3 crores Nett) Approx opening day. There was no looking back after that, as the film continued the phenomenal run till now, further boosted by the postponement of films like Jersey, RRR, Radhe Shyam.
Back in 2019, in Saaho final business update, we mentioned how Bollywood has completely ignored the mass markets of Central and Eastern India, focusing only on the urban centres and how Tollywood need to explore these markets. It is where Pushpa has struck. Pushpa has done extraordinary business in CP Berar can go on to challenge Sooryavanshi numbers. The film has already exceeded the business of Sooryavanshi in Odhisa. Allu Arjun was already a huge star from Tollywood on satellite and digital platforms in the Hindi market, with Pushpa he has shown his box office potential as well. We have another PAN India star, and the one who has achieved it on his own, without any padding from a director like Rajamouli.