Ram Gopal Varma comes out in Allu Arjun’s support over fan’s death during Pushpa 2 premiere: ‘It is ridiculous to blame him’

In Pic: Allu Arjun

After Allu Arjun made a surprise visit to a theatre playing Pushpa 2: The Rule, a stampede-like situation occurred, leading to the death of 35-year-old Revathi. Apart from her, her son also suffered injuries. Following this disheartening incident, the deceased's family filed a complaint against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre's management under sections 105, 118(1), and 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station. Now, Ram Gopal Varma has come out in support of the star icon and defended him, saying, "It is truly ridiculous to blame @alluarjun for the unfortunate death of a woman."

Ram Gopal Varma on stampede during Pushpa 2 premiere

The filmmaker, in his long post, wrote, "Celebrities, by their very appeal, draw huge crowds whether they are film stars, rock stars, or even gods for that matter. Stampedes happen very commonly when there are huge crowds, and this is not the first time a stampede has occurred."

He further shared a link that lists stampedes that have caused deaths, from a few people to thousands, over the last few decades and wrote, "So whether a stampede is caused by accident, negligence, incompetence, or even intent, that can only be known from an investigation perspective on a case-by-case basis."

On Allu Arjun's unannounced visit

He also spoke about Allu's unannounced visit and stated, "On one hand, if Allu Arjun or his team publicized his upcoming visit, then that information is public, and isn't it then the police's responsibility to ask him not to come? If they did not do it, it means that they too didn't anticipate it, which makes the incident an accident."

"Stars visiting theatres has been happening for years, and crowds throng all the time. This is just a rare, unfortunate incident. So even if one wants to take action, either the police or theatre management should be made responsible for whether a star should be given permission to come. But why ban benefit shows?" he further added.

He concluded his long post by writing, "When people die in political meeting stampedes or mela stampedes, are the meetings or melas being banned? So I hope that all the powers concerned will think in a rational way and take a logical decision instead of reacting for the purpose of emotional pacification."

Allu Arjun Reacted to the Tragic Incident

Allu Arjun reacted to the tragic incident with an emotional caption. He shared a video and wrote, "Deeply heartbroken by the tragic incident at Sandhya Theatre. My heartfelt condolences go out to the grieving family during this unimaginably difficult time. I want to assure them they are not alone in this pain and will meet the family personally. While respecting their need for space to grieve, I stand committed to extending every possible assistance to help them navigate through this challenging journey."