Hyderabad: Thaggede le! echoed across the crammed auditorium at Sandhya Theatre on Saturday evening, as a large crowd of movie buffs hooted from the edge of their seats when Pushpa Raj made an appearance on the big screen. Hours ago, the leading man, Allu Arjun, was released from Chanchalguda jail — just about six km from the theatre where a fatal stampede on Dec 4 left a woman dead. Her minor son is still battling for life.
The mood among the crowd, therefore, was cautiously upbeat. "As fans, we are happy that he is released. But we are also upset over what happened here 10 days ago. Those responsible should face action," said Nikhil Goud, who came to watch the movie with half a dozen of his friends.
Many said that the images of the crowd rush — videos from the day were widely circulated on social media — still bothered them. "Yes, what happened to the woman was unfortunate," said Sai Kiran, a degree student watching Pushpa 2: The Rule for the second time. He was quick to add: "But that's behind us now. We're here to celebrate cinema."
Along with scores of others, Sai too jumped out of his seat when the hero engaged and won a verbal spat with a sitting chief minister on 70 mm. The dramatic jathara scene that saw Allu Arjun appear draped in a saree and covered in colours, also received cheers and whistles.
"It is like a festival...the energy is electrifying," a movie goer, Samriddhi A, was overheard saying even as those manning the theatre outside stayed extra alert, praying for everybody to return home unharmed. "We are grateful that audiences have returned in such numbers, but we're also being very vigilant. Also, three of our own are currently in jail, we cannot forget that," said Rama Krishna, the current manager of Sandhya Theatre.
The surge in attendance left parking staff having a tough time too. "For weekend shows, we're handling over 500 vehicles. We've had to coordinate with nearby parking lots and deploy additional staff to manage the overflow," said one of them.