Ranbir Kapoor on Allu Arjun's Pushpa: 'If I had gotten a character like this...'

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor has expressed his desire to perform a role similar to that of Tollywood star Allu Arjun in Pushpa: The Rise. He counted Pushpa, among the three most important films in the last two years that impacted him a lot. The other two films that made an impression on Ranbir are Alia Bhatt's Gangubai Kathiawadi and director SS Rajamouli's global hit RRR.

"All these films impacted me a lot, as an audience, and even as an actor, I was like wow, If I had gotten a character like this, it would have been so nice," said Ranbir. 

Not Just Ranbir, Allu Arjun had swept the audiences off their feet across north India. While Arjun is a household name across south India, nobody was fully aware of how popular he was among movie fans in the Hindi belt. Thanks to all the Hindi-dubbed versions of his movies on YouTube and satellite, Arjun had secured a significant fan following in the north Indian states. 

To the surprise of many, Pushpa in 2021 released to cinemas to packed houses in the southern states. And the film's Hindi version took an opening of Rs 3 crore. Backed by the strong response from the audience across single screens, the movie went on to earn more than Rs 100 crore in north India. What took many by surprise is, the filmmakers of Pushpa didn't put in a lot of effort in promoting the film in the Hindi belt. 

Pushpa did not just exceed expectations in terms of box office collection, it also had a significant cultural impact. Pushpa's unique mannerisms, his popular oneliners and his dance numbers all became a mash hit with the Hindi audience. 

Arjun is now shooting for the second part titled Pushpa: The Rule. The film is expected in cinemas later this year.