Allu Arjun opens up on working in 'Pushpa': 'It was equivalent to doing four films'

Allu Arjun, at the pre-release event in Chennai on Tuesday, stated that working on his highly-anticipated Telugu flick, Pushpa was equivalent to doing four films. Talking about the scale of his latest action drama, he said that the effort that has gone into its making is unparalleled.

Pushpa, which also stars Rashmika Mandanna in the lead role, will hit the big screens on Friday. Originally made in Telugu, the film has been dubbed and will release in several languages including Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam. 

Allu Arjun: 'The scale of the film is such that it felt like doing four films'

According to Hindustan Times, while speaking at a pre-release event in Chennai, Arjun talked about the experience of working on a project that was mainly shot in the forests along the borders of Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh for over 200 days. He said that he had asked the director Sukumar about collaboration several times, however, he was 'very particular' about doing a project that Arjun will match the expectations of their combination. He said that Pushpa is 'one of the most challenging projects' of his acting career. 

Further elaborating on what made working on the film challenging, Arjun explained that the film has been entirely shot in the forests and as it was completely shot outdoors during peak COVID-19 times, many of the team members tested positive while filming. He stated that the crew had to cancel the schedule, however, they came back to sets after a few months and reshot most portions. He said that the 'scale of the film is such that it felt like doing four films.'

The actor added that they followed strict protocols on the sets during the second COVID-19 wave. They were not allowed to have more than three people to travel in a car, which meant they had over 400 cars on location during the shoot. Arjun said that while they were shooting the forest, they heavily relied on the natural light, however, it would get dark by 4.30 pm. Thus, they had to plan their shoot much earlier because his hair and makeup would take two hours. 

Speaking about the idea of going pan-India with the film, Arjun stated that it's been a plan on his mind for quite some time. He explained that the story takes place in the forests of Tirupati which is the border of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Thus, they decided to release the film in Tamil, too. Eventually, they planned to release it in other languages as well. Backed by Mythri Movie Makers, Pushpa has music composed by Devi Sri Prasad. The film also stars Fahadh Faasil as the antagonist. 

Image: Instagram/@alluarjunonline