THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For an industry that has weathered quite a few storms in 2018 and suffered through a bleak early 2019, the summer has come as a relief. Lucifer's extraordinary show in theatres has managed to bring back the crowd to cinemas and the stakeholders hope the trend stays, at least till June. The period from February to April has always been a washout for the industry with little footfalls in cinema halls. But, this year, the vacations began with a bang with Lucifer creating waves, grossing over Rs 100 crore in eight days, from both local and overseas theatres (as per the figures provided by Ashirvad Cinemas).
According to Kerala Film Producers' Association president Suresh Kumar, Lucifer has managed to create the vacation wave. "The industry is pinning its hopes on these two months when the exams are over and the families are in a mood to enjoy the holidays. This year, the summer releases, both Lucifer and Mera Naam Shaaji managed to create the right noise in the BO," says Suresh.
While this trend has revitalised the industry, stakeholders fear this may be a 'once-in-a-blue-moon' phenomenon which may not represent the state of the industry as a whole. "I think it would be too far-fetched to make it sound like Lucifer will transform the industry. 'Lucifer' had a huge hype around it and it was marketed as a Mohanlal-Prithviraj movie. The response Lucifer and Pulimurugan got cannot be sustained by other movies," says Suresh.
Of the 47 movies released this year, only three could manage to make ripples in the theatres. While Kumbalangi Nights did well at multiplexes and single screens, Vijay Superum Paurnamiyum also did decent business at the box office. The Kerala Film Distributors Association president Ziyad Kokker thinks the Lucifer phenomenon is tough to recreate.
"While it is great that Lucifer did great business overseas, it is difficult for other movies to achieve it. Movies of big artists always manage to do well outside. But, one can't say that the trend will reflect in Mollywood as a whole," says Ziyad.As per figures available, Lucifer has grossed nearly $600,000 in the first week in the US alone. The stunning business it did overseas had prompted the industry to explore newer markets, besides the traditional ones. The movie is doing well in Australia and New Zealand too.