Allu Arjun and director Sukumar chatted with the media on Saturday night to celebrate the success of Pushpa 2: The Rule. They also took a moment to express their condolences regarding the unfortunate incident at the film's premiere on December 4 in Hyderabad, offering their apologies to the family of the fan who lost their life in the stampede.

Allu Arjun and Sukumar offer condolences to a deceased fan's family.

Sukumar kicked things off on stage, giving a shout-out to his entire team, mentioning everyone by name for their hard work on Pushpa 2: The Rule. Wrapping up his speech, he shared, “I’ve been at this film for over 6 years, but honestly, I haven’t felt happy for the last 3 days because directors tend to be sensitive. Whether I’ve put in 3 years or 6, I can’t create life. My heart is heavy because of what happened. I’m really sorry for that…I apologize to the family and promise we’ll always be there for you.”

Arjun expressed his gratitude to fans around the globe for the film's success and thanked the governments of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for permitting the ticket price increase and the premieres. He added, “We’re really sorry about what went down. We honestly had no idea. After 20 years of attending opening day shows, it’s really unfortunate that this occurred.”

The actor clarified that he didn’t leave the theater during the film because he found out about the fan’s death, but rather because the management said it was causing a disturbance. “I watched the movie and left because management informed me it was an issue. We only learned the next day that Revathi had passed away; I was taken aback,” he explained.

Arjun also shared why it took him two days to react to the situation, saying, “I needed time to process everything mentally… I want to gather myself and come back to the conversation; it takes me a while to digest things. When we heard the news, we were all in shock. Sukumar garu got really emotional; it drained all our energy.”

He emphasized again, as he did in the video he posted on Friday night, that he loves making films for people to enjoy in theaters, so it was devastating to hear about this incident. “The ₹25 lakh I’ve contributed is just a small gesture to show our support. I don’t want to intrude; I’m giving them their space. I can’t ease their pain, but I’ll meet them when they’re ready. I’ll do whatever I can to help,” he said.

Faced backlash for not apologizing.

When the news hit and the video of Arjun walking out of Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad went viral, many thought he was leaving because he found out about the fan's death and wanted to dodge the situation. Later on, he faced backlash for not addressing the issue on social media, even though his team had contacted the family to offer financial support. When he finally posted a video expressing his condolences, people criticized him for not apologizing to the family or taking responsibility for what happened.On December 4, Arjun went to the theater with his wife, Allu Sneha Reddy, and co-star Rashmika Mandanna, but things took a tragic turn when a stampede broke out. A woman and her young son got hurt and lost consciousness. Sadly, the woman passed away, while her son was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. The police have opened a case against Arjun, his security team, and the theater management after the victim's family filed a complaint.

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