Madgaon Express managed to bring footfalls all over again in the sixth weekend as close to Rs. 80 lakhs came in. There is nil competition around it and hence even with limited screens and shows, there are footfalls coming in. Apart from Shaitaan, it is one film which is actually enjoying long legs in theatres and will soon be completing 50 days as well.

The movie earned almost the same amount on all three days Friday, Saturday and Sunday with Rs. 0.26 lakhs, Rs. 0.26 lakhs and Rs. 0.24 lakhs coming in.

That’s what makes this week interesting because if the weekdays hold on well too then it would only enable the film to go much ahead of the Rs. 35 crores mark. Last week Rs. 2.21 crores more had come during the weekdays and something similar this week will work well for the film which currently stands at Rs. 34.37 crores.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

2023 was a great year for several industries, especially Bollywood, Tamil and Telugu. Hindi cinema saw its best-ever year, with a gross box office of Rs. 5,380 crores and crossing the Rs. 5,000 crores mark for the first time. Telugu and Tamil industries also saw record earnings and footfalls last year. This year, the first four months for all these three industries have been pretty okay. On the other hand, Malayalam cinema didn't have its best performance in 2023. But in 2024, it's gone to another level, shocking as well surprising fans and industry in equal measures.

In the first four months of this year, Malayalam cinema gave several big grossers like Anweshippin Kandethum, Premalu, Bramayugam, Manjummel Boys, Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life, Varshangalkku Shesham and Aavesham.

Anweshippin Kandethum, made at a modest budget, was a huge hit. The romcom Premalu is now the fifth highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time. Thanks to its popularity, its sequel has been announced as well. Bramayugam, shot in black-and-white, was loved for its concept, spooky moments and performance of Mammootty. Prithviraj Sukumaran's Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life, in the making for many years, was a huge money-spinner. Varshangalkku Shesham and Aavesham, which were released last week, are also doing extremely well.

Lastly, Manjummel Boys generated a historic craze. It is the biggest Malayalam hit of all time and is the first Malayalam film to gross more than Rs. 200 crores worldwide. A chunk of its earnings also came from Tamil markets since Manjummel Boys has a strong Tamil connect. Exhibitors in centres like Chennai reported that the survival thriller ran house-full for several weeks. Ruban Mathiavan, of Chennai-based G K Cinemas, told The Times of India, “It has already earned equal to what films with Tamil superstars earn. Kamal Hassan and the Ilaiyaraaja song have been a huge factor in it,” he says.

In 2023, the total gross domestic collections of Malayalam films, as per Ormax, was Rs. 572 crores. It was less than the 2022 earnings of Rs. 633 crores. Even the footfalls slipped from 7.5 crores in 2022 to 6.7 crores in 2023.

But until mid-April 2024, the cumulative total of Malayalam films this year is already Rs. 405 crores! This information was revealed in Ormax's box office report of March 2024. It stated that Malayalam film collections in 2024 are already 71% of the entire Malayalam box office in 2023.

Moreover, the share of Malayalam films at the domestic box office was just 5% while that of Telugu and Tamil were 19% and 16% respectively. This year, in a rare instance, the Malayalam box office share is at 16%, which is more than the 9% share of Tamil films. Tamil, obviously, is a bigger industry and hence Malayalam films have achieved a historic feat.

It’s rare for an industry to deliver so many huge hits in a short period. And the fun has just started. Three promising films are up for release in May - Nivin Pauly-starrer Malayalee From India, Tovino Thomas-starrer Nadikar and Prithviraj Sukumaran-Basil Joseph starrer Guruvayoor Ambalanadayil, among others. At this rate, before mid-2024, the box office earnings of Malayalam films this year will cross the 2023 collections. There are high chances that the Rs. 712 crores figure of 2017 – the highest that Malayalam films collected in a year – will also be breached in the second half of 2024.

Even though there are close to 10 films currently playing, be it the latest releases, or the holdover ones, both from Bollywood as well as Hollywood, it is Maidaan which has managed maximum collections on Saturday. Not that it is much as the collections needed to be far-far bigger, and that too for last 10 days for the film to succeed, it's still some sort of a respite that it is at least finding an audience for itself, which is waking up to the word of mouth.

The Ajay Devgn starrer brought in Rs. 2.83 crores* on Saturday and that's more than Rs. 1 crore ahead of what the film had brought on Friday. This is a good jump from relative standpoint though when it comes to absolute numbers, it needs to keep collecting on the same lines not just on Sunday but from Monday onwards as well. If by some miracle it tops the Rs. 2 crores mark on Monday, then that would be some sort of a win because the film can't afford to get back in that Rs. 1-1.50 crores range again.

This is a film which has its merits and deserves to be a winner all the way. Hence, it's heartbreaking that the collections are nowhere close to what they should be. Still, it's hanging in there at least and has now netted Rs. 32.64 crores*. The way the film is currently going, it will cross Rs. 40 crores by the close of second week and post that it would be interesting to see if similar kind of collections keep coming in the third week as well, hence promising a run of sorts.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire has now crossed the Rs. 90 crores mark. The film brought in Rs. 80 lakhs more on Friday and that was a bit of an increment over Thursday when Rs. 78 lakhs had come in. This pretty much ensured that there would be growth on Saturday and this is what happened as Rs. 1 crore mark was crossed all over again. This would now happen again today, though a bigger jump would really benefit the Hollywood biggie, which has managed to regain quite a few screens for itself.

The film currently stands at Rs. 91.32 crores* and would come close to Rs. 93 crores mark by the close of weekend. If the film stays steady during the weekdays, which it should, it would give it a chance to go past the Rs. 95 crores mark by close of fourth week and from there on its last leg of reaching Rs. 100 Crores Club would begin.

Meanwhile, it's counterpart from the West, Kung Fu Panda 4 has managed to find a few shows going for itself as well. The film came with zero promotion and marketing and its credit to its franchise value and the entertaining content that it will go past Rs. 35 crores number soon. Currently, the film stands at Rs. 34.75 crores*, a good enough number considering the fact that it has opened at Rs. 2.18 crores with the first week closing at Rs. 15.30 crores. Its trajectory is on the same lines as Madgaon Express, which too is aiming for an eventual lifetime score of Rs. 35 crores.

*Estimates. Final numbers awaited

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources

When last week's Eid releases didn't open well and then couldn't grow either, the writing was clear on the wall. Audiences are looking for something really-really special and when even biggies are not getting an initial either, then any other new release would need to be extraordinarily special to get audiences. It's understandable if the opening day numbers doesn't come but then the content has to fly in order to entice footfalls from Saturday onwards. After all, this has already happened with both 12th Fail and Madgaon Express, which ended up working.

In case of Do Aur Do Pyaar and Love Sex Aur Dhokha 2, one wasn't expecting a similar opening to begin with and it was all about arriving in theatres, getting some good reviews from critics and then have that select set of audiences appreciate it as well so that there could be a turnaround from Saturday onwards. That's why even though Do Aur Do Pyaar has still managed to open at Rs. 65 lakhs, Love Sex aur Dhokha 2 is much lower at Rs. 15 lakhs. Now, the real test would be from today on where these films will eventually go.

Both the films have ample space available to grow since Bade Miyan Chote Miyan and Maidaan are as it is low. Holdover releases too just have some sort of collections trickling in and none of those have managed to touch even Rs. 1 crore. However, the turnaround needs to be really fast from today itself. One just hopes that this happens indeed and there is some respite at least for some theatre owners.

Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources