From Pappu Pager to Pushpa, how India had a blast with pagers

In the history of communication devices in India, pagers might at best get a page devoted to them. Pagers, which made an entry into India in the mid-90s after the economic liberalisation of 1991, was the evolutionary link between the landline phone and the cellphone. It will be difficult to explain to Generation Alpha what a floppy disc or a CD player is. Pager, one such device, has ironically been resurrected in our conversations due to the spectacular explosions in the hands and pockets of Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.

Movies, for one, are one of the essential repositories of technology sent to the warehouse of history. And pagers find due place in Indian films. That’s also because of the status that pagers had in Indian society, albeit for a brief period.

Pagers were used essentially by delivery workers in the West. However, in India, which was tasting economic liberalisation, the device found a place of pride. Wide-eyed kids would gawk at pagers fixed to the belt of a well-to-do gentleman. Though there were a handful of companies selling pagers in India, the ones by Motorola were very popular.

Faizal Khan uses the pager to send across the message of his financial prowess.

The pager, decades after it disappeared from India, also makes a comeback in 2021 in Pushpa: The Rise.

The protagonist Pushpa, played by Allu Arjun, uses a Motorola Gold Flex Pager. The film, directed by Sukumar, was one of Allu Arjun’s biggest hits, and earned him a National Award.

Pager wasn’t just used by Allu Arjun’s character Pushpa Raj, even Prime Video India used it to promote the film.

“What message would you send on Pushpa’s pager?” it asked.