The 44th birthday of Telugu superstar Allu Arjun was a scene of riotous celebration outside his Jubilee Hills residence at Hyderabad. The thousands of fans were present as early as Tuesday night, as they were eager to see the actor and wish him in person. The number of people present, however, rapidly exceeded individual security and the police had to step in.

When fans became uncontrollable, forcing their way to the gates, placards and gifts in hand, law enforcement had to unleash a gentle lathi charge to calm them down. The tension notwithstanding, the “Pushpa” star appeared several times to accept the applause of his supporters. Tuesday night he went out to salute the cheering crowds, and on Wednesday morning he came nearer to the barricades in order to thank personally those who had been waiting hours. A devoted fan even donned the legendary jatara outfit worn by the Pushpa 2: The Rule, which shows the extreme hype around the new projects of the actor.

The festivity is a climax to the career of Arjun. His most recent film, Pushpa 2: The Rule, is currently the highest-grossing Telugu movie of all time with a global collection of more than ₹1800 crore. In a tribute to the birthday, director Atlee also formally announced their next joint venture, called Raaka, with an aggressive first look which has already caused a frenzy on the Internet.

The brother of Allu Arjun, Allu Sirish posted photos of the enormous crowd on social media and was amazed by the size of the celebration. As the actor has gained the status of a global star thanks to new projects under Lokesh Kanagaraj and Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the birthday mania was a vivid reminder of the sheer amount, and at times uncontrollable, passion of his fans.

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