'Pushpa'- the real story behind 'Srivalli's hook-up step

Such was the craze for the film that even when it was released on OTT, audiences rewatched and experienced the film in theatres to revisit its grandeur and breakthrough story-telling. The biggest and most successful blockbuster ‘Pushpa’  completes a year today.

Sukumar's, hook steps from the film trended on social media, was a source of creative inspiration and part of every Indian celebration. The famous hook step from the iconic track ‘Srivalli’ was also the filmmaker’s idea. It so happened that leading man Allu Arjun had injured his foot and while attempting the choreography would often lose grip of his sandal and drag his foot around. That’s when Sukumar decided to incorporate the foot-dragging movement as an actual step in the track and even added that extra zing with the slipper sliding off. Little did he realize that the small tweak would even up being recreated over a million times on social media as part of trending reels.

Such is the deep respect and admiration the Pushpa director has garnered for himself that even a celebrated filmmaker like SS Rajamouli referred to him as his favourite director.

In a game-changing move, Sukumar, one of the most democratic filmmakers of Telugu cinema, decided to give budding writers a platform to shine with the next installment of Pushpa. The filmmaker has asked young promising writers from not only Telugu but also other cinema industries in India, to contribute scenes, episodes, and even shots and frames to the screenplay of Pushpa 2 – The Rule.