KOCHI: With no major Malayalam release, other-language movies are ruling the theatres and Kerala box office this Vishu-Easter season. Director Prasanth Neel’s Yash-starrer KGF: Chapter 2 — released on Thursday — has set theatres on fire, breaking the existing opening day collection records in the state. According to box-office trackers, KGF: 2 has grossed `7.48 crore on the first day in Kerala, surpassing Mohanlal’s Odiyan and Mammootty’s Bheeshmaparvam. Meanwhile, Tamil film Beast starring Vijay, despite the huge collection on release day, failed to maintain the momentum amid the KGF wave.
The theatres across the state had been going through a rough phase for the past two years because of Covid. Bheeshmaparvam, one of the major releases after the break, was a huge hit in the state. The film set new collection records in the Middle East for a Malayalam film. Now, with KGF keeping the cash registers ringing, theatre owners are hopeful of a recovery from the severe financial crunch caused due to the pandemic.
“We expect that KGF:2 will garner at least Rs 20-crore share from Kerala, which is huge. Usually, many theatres in Malabar region remain closed during the holy month of Ramadan as collection will be very low. However, KGF has given a new life to theatres. Even at a small centre like Cherthala, a special show was scheduled at 3am on Sunday. The film is a bumper lottery to theatre owners in this month, which otherwise would have been a dull season,” said Kerala Film Distributor’s Association president Ziyad Koker.
He said the Ramadan releases are expected to hit the screens by the end of this month. “Though the Vishu releases were postponed, some much-anticipated movies are likely to hit screens as Eid releases. We hope they will help the theatres carry forward the momentum given by Bheeshmaparvam and KGF,” he added.