'Putting family above self led to her death': Pushpa 2 premiere stampede victim's husband recalls horror

HYDERABAD: Revathi and Mogadampalli Bhaskar's son Sritej, 9, became a fan of Telugu actor Allu Arjun after watching Pushpa: The Rise three years ago. So much so that the family's neighbours nicknamed the little boy "Pushpa" for his pitch-perfect delivery of "Thaggede le", Arjun's famous catchphrase from the 2021 movie.
As Sritej battled for life in a hospital Thursday and his mother's body lay in a mortuary, an inconsolable Bhaskar wondered if 32-year-old Revathi's habit of always putting family above self led to her death the previous night in a stampede at Sandhya theatre where the sequel to the first Pushpa movie premiered.
"She gave me life, and now she's gone," the 40-year-old said of his wife donating a portion of her liver in 2023 when he needed a transplant.
Her last moments, too, were about going out of her way to make her kids happy. Sritej and his younger sister Sanvi had been pestering their parents to take them for a show of Pushpa 2: The Rule.
Wednesday was supposed to be a special movie night for them, with Arjun being in attendance at the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule in Hyderabad's Sandhya Theatre. Revathi was with Sritej when the stampede broke out, trapping both in a melee of frantic feet.
Bhaskar had moved away with Sanvi sometime earlier because the girl started crying amid jostling by fans desperate for a glimpse of the film star.
Son critical because of severe hypoxia & potential lung injury
Breaking down at the thought, Bhaskar said, “I decided to drop Sanvi at my in-laws’ home in the lane next to the theatre. By the time I returned, my wife and son weren’t there where I left them. When I called, Revathi said they were inside the theatre…That was the last I heard her voice.”
The bereaved husband believes Revathi was fatally injured in trying to protect their son as the unruly crowd ran hither and thither to escape a police baton charge. Waiting outside the Gandhi Hospital mortuary, Bhaskar was struggling to come to terms with not just the tragedy of his wife’s death. Their son was in a hospital room a few kilo- metres away, still in a critical condition because of “severe hypoxia and potential lung injury”.
“I remember someone showing me a video where Sritej was being carried in a stranger’s arms, then being taken in a patrol car that stopped at Chikkadpally police station. He was motionless as they drove him to KIMS Hospital,” said the anxious father. “I didn’t get any updates about Revathi until 2.30am Thursday. That’s when some cops broke the news to me, and my world crashed.”
Bhaskar has since being trying to convince himself to “stay strong” for Sanvi. The little girl, a family member said, was still in a state of disbelief about losing the person she was closest to — her mother.
Criminal case filed after stampede at Pushpa 2 premiere leaves woman dead and child injured
Police filed a criminal case on Thursday against actor Allu Arjun, his private security team, and the management of Sandhya Theatre at RTC Crossroad following a stampede during the premiere of Pushpa 2: The Rule the previous night. The incident led to the death of a 32-year-old woman, while her nine-year-old son was hospitalized with severe injuries.
Stampede at RTC X roads as Allu Arjun arrives for Pushpa 2 premiere
By 8pm, fueled by the immense hype surrounding the sequel and the anticipation of catching a glimpse of Allu Arjun, a large crowd had begun to gather at the Sandhya Theatre at RTC X Roads. The road between RTC X Roads and Bus Bhavan quickly became overcrowded, while only a few police officers were present at the scene. Around 9.30 pm, Allu Arjun arrived in a convoy of vehicles, and by this time, the road was already packed with people. The trouble began when his vehicle reached RTC X Roads. As he waved at the crowd from the sunroof, his convoy, surrounded by fans, moved at a sluggish pace.