'Aavesham' and 'Varshangalkku Shesham', released for the Eid-Vishu vacation, have set the cash registers ringing at the global box office.
The posters of 'Varshangalkku Shesham' and 'Avesham'. (X)
The two Malayalam movies released in April during the Eid-Vishu festive vacation — Aavesham and Varshangalkku Shesham — are minting money at the global box office, thus ensuring good business for theatres across Kerala.
Released on 11 April, both films have grossed ₹50 crore worldwide.
In Kerala, Fahadh Faasil’s Aavesham earned around ₹28 crore and Vineeth Sreenivasan’s Varshangalkku Shesham collected ₹21 crore.
Interestingly, Prithviraj Sukumaran and Blessy’s Aadujeevitham (The Goat Life) raked in ₹70 crore from the Kerala box office.
The movie collected a gross of ₹140 crore worldwide and is expected to touch the ₹ 150 crore mark soon.
Unni Mukundan’s Jai Ganesh was released along with Aavesham and Varshangalku Shesham. But Fahadh Faasil’s Aavesham is leading the race by grabbing maximum screens in its second week as it has an extraordinary response.
Here’s the collection of Aavesham:
The movie grossed ₹28.15 crore in eight days in Kerala through 8,015 shows.
Meanwhile, Varshangalkku Shesham is also heading towards the “blockbuster” destination by registering a steady collection.
The film’s collection at the Kerala box office is as follows:
In eight days, the movie collected a total of ₹21.65 crore.
The Malayalam industry has seen a successful first quarter (Q1) in 2024. The success streak of Malayalam movies began in February and continued even in March and April, with several projects setting the cash registers ringing at the box office.
Interestingly, the single screens and multiplexes in Tamil Nadu screened Malayalam films like Manjummel Boys, Premalu, Bramayugam, and Aadujeevitham as Kollywood had no hit since Dhanush’s Captain Miller and Sivakarthikeyan’s Ayalaan, both released for Pongal.
Well, this has been a boon for Mollywood.
Last year, only Romancham and 2018: Everyone Is a Hero became superhits in the first quarter.
But this year, in less than six months, there are seven superhits of which three are all-time blockbusters — Premalu, Manjummel Boys, and Aadujeevitham.
In February 2024, films such as Anweshippin Kandethum, Bramayugam, Premalu, and Manjummel Boys became huge successes and earned over ₹50 crore at the global box office.
Interestingly, Premalu was made with a budget of ₹10 crore and the movie has earned ₹130 crore which is ten times the profit for the makers.
Manjummel Boys, the first movie to earn ₹250 crore in Malayalam became a part of history.
The film earned ₹10 crore in all Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada dubbed versions, too. It created history in Tamil Nadu by becoming the first Malayalam movie to collect ₹60 crore from the state.
Meanwhile, Mammootty’s Bramayugam featured the ace actor playing the negative role of Kodumon Potty. It was received well by the audience across the world.
However, Dileep’s Thankamani, released on 7 March, didn’t do well.
A week later, on 15 March, Anchakkallakokkan was released. The movie has a good audience and received a positive response for its retro filmmaking style.
But two weeks later, Aadujeevitham hit the screens on 28 March. It continued the success streak and even entered the elite ₹100-crore club in just nine days.
As a result, Anchakkallakokkan lost its screens and is now available on Amazon Prime Video.
It may be mentioned here that the overseas collection also plays an important factor in the Malayalam films attaining the blockbuster status.
But after COVID-19, the movies of big stars like Mohanlal, Mammootty, Dulquer Salmaan, Fahadh Faasil, and Prithviraj Sukumaran are being released on the same day in Kerala and the GCC countries.
Interestingly, the release date of Aadujeevitham was preponed from 11 April to 28 March. This decision helped the movie run successfully in theatres in the first two weeks and get maximum profit.
Listin Stephen, a leading producer and exhibitor who distributed Aadujeevitham in Kerala, disclosed that he and Prithviraj Sukumaran discussed with director Blessy about preponing the release date to get an advantage over other films.
This smart move of Listin ensured that the film had a solo run without any clash with the new releases.
However, with the PVR-INOX management cancelling the screening of Malayalam movies at its multiplexes across India on 10 April, owing to the dispute with the content sharing with Kerala Film producers, there were doubts if the winning spree would continue in Mollywood.
But it was sorted out with the help of MA Yusuf Ali, the chairman of Lulu International Group, which houses two multiplex theatres of PVR-INOX in Kochi and Trivandrum.
A Kochi-based theatre owner told South First that they are happy with the current scenario of Malayalam films becoming superhits.
Now, upcoming releases like Malayalee From India, Turbo, Guruvayoor Ambala Nadayil, Kathanar, and Barroz have good expectations.
Let’s hope the success streak will continue in the coming months, too!
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