KOCHI: From Bramayugam, a period folk horror in black and white, to Mohanlal’s directorial debut Barroz, besides remasters of old classics, Mollywood tried several experiments and innovations in 2024. However, it had a disappointing box office run.
In fact, the industry incurred an estimated loss of Rs 700 crore, according to the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA).
As per the figures released by the association on Saturday, 199 new films and five remastered versions were released in theatres in 2024, totalling an investment of Rs 1,000 crore.
“However, 26 films made a profit of Rs 300-350 crore, the rest suffered a loss of Rs 650-700 crore,” said B Rakesh, KFPA secretary.
“There were only about 26 films that can be categorised as superhits, hits or average hits. The rest were not even noticed by the audience,” he said.
A few films stood out. Manjummel Boys, Blessy’s Aadujeevitham, Mammootty-starrer Bramayugam, Fahadh Faasil’s Aavesham, besides Premalu, starring Naslen and Mamitha, entered the Rs 100-crore club. “In 2023 too, 200 films were released and the industry faced losses,” Rakesh said. Small-budget films fared better this year.
‘Malayalam industry doesn’t need 200 films a year’
“The year proved that audience interests and behaviour cannot be gauged. Films that performed well – Kishkindha Kaandam, Aavesham, Sookshmadarshini and others – were of different genres and made on a small budget. Yet they brought people to theatres. This shows Mollywood needs more diverse content to please the audience,” said theatre owner and producer Liberty Basheer.
KFPA vice-president Ziyad Kokker, budget and big names cannot decide a film’s success. “If the film is captivating, the audience will come to the theatres,” he said.
Superstars like Vijay and Rajinikanth too failed to attract the Malayali audience. “Vettaiyan and GOAT were much-anticipated Tamil films starring big names. Yet they failed in Kerala theatres. This shows the audience is not bothered about big names, and wants quality content,” Basheer said.
Meanwhile, Saji Nanthyattu, the general secretary of Film Chamber, Kerala, said they estimate Mollywood’s losses this year to be a whopping Rs 1,250 crore. He said the industry needs to come up with films that attract young generations and also bring families back to theatres.
“An industry like Mollywood does not need 200 or more films every year. Last year, 222 films were released, but only 12 were hits. We don’t need many films. Most of the time, the audience does not even know the films that are released in a week,” he said.
“Post Covid, Malayali audiences were hesitant to come to theatres. This year, we noticed a change in the trend,” Ziyad said.
Saji said the sexual harassment allegations against people in the industry following the release of the Hema committee report in August also affected the success of
Malayalam films this year, while piracy poses a threat too.