Kochi: Around ninety percent of the Malayalam movies that were released last year had been financially non – profitable and failed to make the cash registers ring at the box office. In 2022, 176 Malayalam films had hit the theatres. Among them, only 17 were successful. It is estimated that the producers may have suffered a loss of around Rs 325 crore as 159 films didn’t make an impression in the box office. It must be noted that Malayalam movies had bombed when Kannada movie ‘KGF 2’ collected a whopping Rs 30 crores from the theatres in Kerala. Meanwhile, Bollywood movie ‘Drishyam 2’, a remake of the Malayalam movie of the same name surprised everyone by collecting Rs 235 crores. Only eight movies had secured a share of more than Rs 10 crore for the producers. The producers are able to earn around Rs 10 crore as profit when the movie collects at least Rs 30 crore from the theatres.
‘Super Sharanya’ was the first hit of 2022. Seventeen films including the recently released ‘Malikappuram’ had filled the pockets of the producers.
Meanwhile, Hridayam, Bheeshmaparvam, Kaduva, Jana Gana Mana, Nna Thaan Case Kodu, Thallumala, Rorschach and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya He earned its producers and distributors more than Rs 10 crore as theatre profit. ‘Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya He’ that didn’t boast of any big names in its star cast turned out to be the golden hit of 2022. ‘Vikram’ starring Kamal Haasan in the lead role. Rajamouli’s magnum opus ‘RRR’ and Rishab Shetty’s mythical drama ‘Kantara’ had created ripples in the theatres of Kerala. Meanwhile, the collection reports of Hollywood fantasy movie ‘Avatar 2’ directed by James Cameroon haven’t come out yet.
Malayalam cinema had clearly enjoyed the advantage of the incredible boom that has happened in the OTT business which had recorded a turn over of Rs 26,000 crore. The producers of many movies that didn’t fare well in the theatres were able to survive because of lucrative OTT deals. There wasn’t any major direct to OTT releases last year as the OTT platforms had adopted the policy that the movies could have a theatrical release before they are streamed in the digital platforms.
