2024’s most creative, thrilling fight scene just got added to Netflix

I wish Netflix was better at advertising the arrival of new international movies. If it did, I could have planned a whole party around the arrival of the massive Telugu blockbuster Pushpa 2: The Rule, which was suddenly added to the service last week with just a few days’ notice. I loved the first movie in the series — Pushpa: The Rise, one of the best thrillers of 2021 and currently streaming on Prime Video — and had heard the sequel culminated in one of the most fantastic fight scenes of 2024. Readers, it did not disappoint. Pushpa 2 overtook S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2: The Conclusion to become the highest-grossing movie in Indian box-office history this past December. While the first Pushpa is less bloated (the “Reloaded” version of Pushpa 2 on Netflix is nearly four hours long), both are exciting, visually outstanding thrillers carried by Allu Arjun’s outstanding lead performance as Pushpa. The movies follow Pushpa’s rise from disenfranchised laborer to smuggling kingpin, and the ways he continually outfoxes (or outmuscles) his opposition. Arjun is charismatic, unflappable, and intense in the lead role, but still manages to evoke a deep sensitivity in a character who is very conscious of his lack of surname and familial status. All this builds to one of the most creative fight scenes in recent memory. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSNL6OIr9kU] In the sequence, Pushpa has to fight dozens of bad guys with both his hands and feet tied. He uses his body and his teeth, fighting like a worm or snake, building an endlessly creative sequence that sees him leaping off walls, pounding on the floor, and destroying stone columns in the villains’ castle hideout as he pounces from enemy to enemy. It eventually leads to an Inigo Montoya-style “I am not left-handed” moment when Pushpa’s limbs get freed and he’s able to fully obliterate his foes. Like many other Indian action movies, the Pushpa franchise makes ample use of slow-motion and speed ramping, amplifying the feeling of the protagonist’s unstoppable power. These tools are supplemented with jaw-dropping wirework that highlights the impact of his blows and the perception of his physical strength. I highly recommend watching both movies for the full context and experience. But it is a big commitment. If you just want to watch the kickass fight scene from Pushpa 2, I’m here to help. Here’s what you need to know if you only want to tune in for one of the best fight scenes of last year. A brief content warning: The fight includes a young woman being threatened by a gang of menacing men. [Ed. note: Spoilers below for Pushpa 2: The Rule.] The fight scene starts around 3:21:00, with a few minutes of buildup beforehand, and goes until about 3:30:00. Here’s the context: During a festival, a gang attempts to assault Pushpa’s niece Kaveri. Pushpa stops them, humiliating them in another outstanding fight sequence (at about 2:10:00, and it’s arguably even better, filled with dazzling pops of color) where he’s dressed like the goddess Renuka. After the festival, that same gang successfully kidnaps Kaveri and demands a large ransom. Pushpa arrives at the villains’ hiding place and is told there is a gun being held to his niece, and if he takes any aggressive action, she will be killed. The villains dress him up in a sari, mocking him for dressing like a woman at the festival, and tie his arms and legs to prevent him from fighting back before bringing his niece out to taunt him. The rest is action movie history. While I’m here, I might as well mention that there are two other jaw-dropping set-pieces from Pushpa 2, musical numbers so good you don’t need the translation of the lyrics to get what they’re driving at (although, again, I highly recommend watching this movie on Netflix for the full context). First, a song about how horny Pushpa and his wife Srivalli are for each other, which starts at about 1:02:00 on Netflix. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RAd-_Qj_ac] Next, a song about how she gets to see a sensitive side of him no one else has access to, which immediately precedes his first fight scene with this group and starts at about 2:01:00 on Netflix. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH6c2bTM8p0] Pushpa: The Rise is streaming on Prime Video. Pushpa 2: The Rule is streaming on Netflix.