Hyderabad, Dec 16 (IANS): 'Pushpa: The Rise' is slated for a grand release on Friday but the absence of director Sukumar at the pre-release event has not gone down well with fans.

Team 'Pushpa' has left no stone unturned on the promotions, from releasing every single song in all the languages to interacting with the media, the team has been working around the clock for promotions.

Being Sukumar's directorial, it was expected that the filmmaker would appear in the promotional events as well. But, Sukumar is engrossed in finishing the film's post-production work and so he skipped the promotions, which has upset the fans.

Analysts believe that the director's word about the movie plays an important role during the promotions, which did not happen for 'Pushpa'.

One of the online fans of Sukumar wrote, "If a star director like Sukumar has to stay away from the promotions to bring better output, the industry should think about the time being given to them to prepare the film's final output. Is this fair?"

'Pushpa' stars Allu Arjun, Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Fassil, Sunil, Anasuya Bharadwaj, and others in important roles. Samantha Ruth Prabhu is to appear in an item song as well.