After ‘Vaazha 2’, ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ eyes Rs 200 crore milestone

Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju-starrer ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ is continuing its strong run at the box office, with the film reportedly inching closer to the coveted Rs 200 crore mark worldwide. While the makers are yet to release an official box-office statement, trade trackers and industry analysts suggest that the film has already crossed the milestone.

According to box-office tracker Sacnilk, ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ had grossed around Rs 195 crore worldwide as of Monday morning.  Trade analyst Sreedhar Pillai and film industry tracker AB George, meanwhile, stated that ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ had already crossed Rs 200 crore worldwide based on Monday’s advance bookings and early figures.

If confirmed, the achievement would make ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’, the biggest-grossing film of Nivin Pauly’s career. While ‘Premam’ remains one of the actor’s most popular films, ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ is now emerging as his highest grosser in terms of reported theatrical collections.

Interestingly, ‘Premam’ grossed under Rs 80 crore during its original theatrical run. The 2015 film, however, was a massive cultural and commercial success at the time of its release and went on to become a landmark film for Malayalam cinema. For Mamitha Baiju, meanwhile, the Rs 200 crore territory is not unfamiliar. The actor previously starred in ‘Premalu’, which was also directed by Girish AD. The film went on to gross around Rs 137 crore worldwide and became a major turning point in Mamitha’s career. She has since been part of other major commercial successes as well, with her Tamil films ‘Jana Nayagan’ and ‘Viswanath and Sons’ also reportedly crossing the Rs 200 crore mark worldwide.

According to industry trackers, ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’ is now among the fastest Malayalam films to reach the Rs 200 crore milestone, following major blockbusters such as ‘Empuraan’ and ‘Drishyam 3’. The film is directed by Girish AD, who has carved a niche for himself with his distinctive romantic-comedy films. Following the success of ‘Thanneer Mathan Dinangal’, ‘Super Sharanya’ and ‘Premalu’, the filmmaker has once again managed to connect with audiences with ‘Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’, further cementing his reputation as one of Malayalam cinema’s most successful directors in the genre.