Mollywood is on fire! 2024 is turning out to be the best year in recent times for Malayalam films with releases turning out to be back-to-back hits and breaking records. Recently, we saw small-budget films like Manjummel Boys and Premalu becoming super-duper hits not only in Kerala or even pan-India but also globally. Manjummel Boys became the first Malayalam movie to cross the 200 crore mark, shattering numerous box-office records and claiming the title of the highest-grossing Malayalam film to date. Premalu, on the other hand, became the 4th highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, beating Mohanlal’s Lucifer.
But the icing on the cake is what happened during the 11th April – 14th April weekend. The latest releases, Aavesham and Varshangalkku Shesham collectively earned over 80 crores gross worldwide this weekend. Despite facing competition from new releases, Prithviraj’s The Goat Life also achieved remarkable box office numbers.
Aavesham amassed a domestic net collection of 16 crores within four days of its release (Thursday release), whereas Varshangalkku Shesham has reached a domestic net of 13.30 crores. On August 14th, both films achieved their highest single-day net collection in India, with Aavesham at 4.75 crores and Varshangalkku Shesham at 4.10 crores. During the opening weekend itself, Aavesham has grossed 42 crores worldwide, while Varshangalkku Shesham has over earned 30 crores gross.
With its outstanding performance, Aadujeevitham is poised to secure the third position among the highest-grossing Malayalam films worldwide. Presently, Manjummel Boys (2024) leads with a gross of over 230 crores gross, followed by 2018 (2023) at 181 crores gross. Pulimurugan (2016) currently holds the third position with 140 crores gross, but The Goat Life is on track to surpass it soon.
These three films have together achieved a 100 crore weekend – the first in the history of Malayalam cinema. Among all Indian industries, Malayalam cinema is experiencing its highest success rate, and industry onlookers expect this trend to persist in the forthcoming years.
What is contributing to this audience’s pull to theatres featuring Mallu films? An insider says that consistent quality, top-notch filmmaking, and even better storylines are what the average cinema lover is looking for in a cinematic experience. And Malayalam films are able to deliver on all these accounts. Also, with the advent of OTT, regional cinema has been finally receiving the reach it deserves.
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