T-Series has pulled down Pushpa 2: The Rule’s fan-favourite track, Dammunte Pattukora, amid the ongoing Sandhya theatre stampede case. In a classic case of wrong timing, the song, which wasn’t even a soundtrack to begin with, was released just hours before the stampede that claimed the life of a woman and critically injured her son and was removed soon after.
But what is wrong with Dammunte Pattukora, you ask?
The Telugu phrase Dammunte Pattukora translates to “catch me if you dare” and was used by Allu Arjun’s character in Pushpa 2: The Rule to taunt a police officer.
A scene from Pushpa 2: The Rule shows Allu Arjun’s character, a red sanders smuggler Pushpa Raj, taunting Fahadh Faasil‘s character, police officer Bhanwar Singh Shekawat, saying, Dammunte pattukora Shekawathu, pattukunte vadilesta syndicatu (Catch me if you dare, Shekawat, I’ll leave the syndicate if you’re successful).”
And when Bhanwar thinks he has bested Pushpa, Allu Arjun‘s character plays a remixed version of the dialogue like a song and dances to it. Since the film’s release, most people have been vibing to it.
Capitalising on its popularity, T-Series released the song composed by Devi Sri Prasad on December 24. However, given the essence of the dialogue, the music label was criticised for the move.
Soon after, T-Series realised the implications of the song’s release and removed it from YouTube and other platforms.
What happened at Sandhya Theatre?
A 35-year-old woman died, and her eight-year-old son was injured on December 4 during a stampede-like situation at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad when fans jostled to have a glimpse of the actor at the premiere of Pushpa 2 movie.
Following the incident, the city police registered a case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint lodged by the deceased woman’s family.
Allu Arjun, named accused no 11, was arrested on December 13 in connection with the incident and produced before the Nampally court. The court remanded him to 14-day judicial custody. Shortly after Allu Arjun was shifted to jail, the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks (from December 13), and he was released from jail on December 14.
The actor has also filed a regular bail petition in the court, which may come up for hearing on December 30.
Meanwhile, Allu Aravind, film producer and father of Allu Arjun, has announced financial support of ₹2 crore for Sri Tej, the 8-year-old victim of the Sandhya Theatre tragedy.