8 Malayalam Movies That Raked Huge At Kerala BO In 2016 First-Half

Vineeth Sreenivasan’s family drama ‘Jacobinte Swargarajyam’ had all the necessary elements to pull the family audience into the theaters. And it happened. The movie raked Rs. 1.35 crores on the opening day. JSR is still running in multiplexes in Kerala and is all set to cross the 100 days mark. As per the latest reports, this Nivin Pauly starrer has earned Rs. 22.50 crores (approx.) from Kerala and is the second movie to enter the 20 crore club in this year. The success of this movie also makes Nivin Pauly Box Office King in the first half of 2016.

Dileep is called ‘Janapriyanaykan’ for a reason. ‘King Liar’ was a perfectly packed treat for the fun movie-loving​ audience and the release was timed at the beginning of school holiday period. The movie collected Rs. 1.52 crores on the first day. The movie entered the prestigious 20 crores club at Kerala BO. As the movie is still in theaters (at the time of writing this article) the final figures are not available. But according to the latest available reports, ‘King Liar’ has earned approximately Rs. 21.50 crores from Kerala box office alone.

‘Maheshinte Prethikaaram’ was a much-needed​ hit for Fahadh Faasil, all thanks to his back-to-back flops. The movie released without any hype and had a lukewarm response at the cash counters. It only grossed Rs. 60 lakh on day 1. But the movie received favorable reviews and many of the top rated critics gave it 5 stars. Adding to this, the word of mouth was totally in favor of the movie. This small budget movie had a steady collection and successfully completed 100 days. The movie raked a total of Rs. 23.65 crore from India.

Nivin had spent his own money on this flick, making the success of the movie most needed for him, than anyone else. The movie witnessed a slow start than expected. But in the coming days, it saw a huge rush in all the releasing centers, owing to the positive word of mouth and reviews. ‘Action Hero Biju’ made the century run in major releasing centers and earned Rs. 16.65 crores at Kerala Box Office. It earned almost the same amount from the rest of India and worldwide, making the total collection to be Rs. 30 crores (approx.), thus becoming the movie with the highest overall collection of the 2016 releases.

Dulquer’s movie after ‘Charlie’; Sai Pallavi’s second movie; Sameer Thahir at the helm; there was no shortage of factors for the pre-release hype. And this was evident in the first day collection. ‘Kali’ earned Rs. 2.33 crores on day 1, thus beating record set by ‘Loham’ for the highest opening day collection of the movie. Teenage audience and critics favored the movie. But the movie failed to make a 100 days run. In its 62 days of theater run, the movie collected around Rs. 16.40 crores from Kerala.

Directed by G. Marthandam, ‘Paavada’ was the first big release of this year. And box office had a huge expectation with the film considering the success of recent Prithviraj films. And it stood up to the expectations from day 1. The movie had an opening of approx. Rs. 1.23 crore at Kerala Box Office. As the subject was revolving around alcoholism and was conceptualized with importance to comedy, the family audiences were pulled into theaters. ‘Paavada’ had a 100 days run in theaters and grossed Rs. 16.34 crores at Kerala box office.

It’s rare to have a proper gangster movie released in Malayalam and it’s even rare to see it succeed at Kerala box office. But Rajeev Ravi’s ‘Kammatipaadam’ achieved this feat. DQ in the lead and stellar performance by everyone in the cast helped the movie to do good business. Considering the genre and ‘A’ certificate, the opening day collection of Rs. 1.52 crore is a great figure. The movie is still in theaters and the latest estimated figure calls for a Kerala box office gross collection of Rs. 13.90 crores.

‘Happy Wedding’ is no doubt the black horse in the box office race. Made on a budget of around Rs. 1.5 crores, the movie has so far earned Rs. 5.1 crores. Being a comedy genre and no new big releases in the following weeks helped the movie in a great way at the cash counters. Success in Kerala circle is sure to help the movie in its international release, thus making it the surprise hit of the first half of 2016.