After OMG 2, filmmaker Amit Rai could have easily followed up with a bigger, star-led commercial film. Instead, he has returned with Ohh My Dog, a film led by a 12-year-old boy and an indie dog. Rai says, “The urge to tell that story is always the main reason to go forward, irrespective of whether it is a big or small budget film. Stars, studios and budgets are subservient to the story and not vice versa.”

He admits he could have mounted a larger commercial film after OMG 2. “I chose to tell this story because it came to me organically. I have a dog who is like my son, and I have been amazed by the love and loyalty he has. It was he who inspired this story.”

Rai is also unsparing in his assessment of where he believes the Hindi film industry is headed. “The problem with our industry is that we are not making films but mounting projects. There is something essentially wrong in the way we approach storytelling. Character graph ke pehle business graph ki baat karte hai yahan, scene construction se jyada PPT, pie charts aur territory par focus hai.”

He believes storytelling has taken a backseat. “Many of us have forgotten that film is essentially about story, characters, situations and human emotions. Film business is because of the story and not vice versa. Given the myopic approach of the decision-makers, the room for meaningful storytelling has shrunk. It is a rat race here. No one is eager to take risks with unique concepts. I am not a fan of formulas. I follow stories. I reinvent myself with every story — that is the only formula I follow.”

Drawing a comparison with regional cinema, Rai says audiences are rewarding originality over formula. “In the era of digital and content saturation, you cannot keep offering the same content. That is the reason Hindi films are losing relevance and business to regional films, who are offering cinematic experiences, right from Pushpa to Manjummel Boys, Dashavatar, Kantara and Mahavatar Narsimha.”

Two-time Academy award winning filmmaker Guneet Monga Kapoor says that while she is happy to back Hindi and English films, her long-term vision is to work across Indian languages and take their stories to a global audience.

“I’m in the midst of closing a Marathi film and I want to work in every language. The idea is to double down on storytelling, as it is our superpower. Talent like actors and directors are also our superpower and so are the budgets, and our languages. I have the understanding of how to take movies and expand the footprint of an IP,” she tells us.

She adds that the true strength of the industry lies in collaboration. “If you see international films, you have five producers backing a single project, we should all collaborate back home too,” says Guneet.

Despite her international success, the producer says she isn’t slowing down until she achieves her biggest ambition: “That’s my $2 billion box office film and I feel it will be a regional film, it will be an offbeat genre and it will break out internationally.”

She adds that India is yet to have its “own Obsession moment”, referring to the horror film that grossed more than 540 times its budget. “We have amazing filmmakers and talent. I feel like If i was part of Manjummel Boys (2024), we could have taken it international and it would have broken out around the world. What’s holding us back?”, she shares.

Over the last decade the gravitational pull of India’s entertainment economy has shi fted unmistakably southward. What began as sporadic national curiosity, gradually swelled into a full-blown cultural crossover. When Naatu Naatu from the Ram Charan-NTR Jr starrer RRR lit up the Oscar stage, it signalled that southern cinema was no longer rising quietly; it was asserting itself at the centre of India’s mainstream imagination.

That momentum has now spilled decisively into the OTT universe. For years, India’s streaming landscape ran on a Bollywood-first operating system. Budgets, narratives, and viewer targeting were all sculpted around the Hindi-speaking market.

But the lockdown years changed viewing behaviour dramatically. Housebound and hungry for fresh stories, audiences began exploring Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films in unprecedented numbers. The runaway popularity of Pushpa: The Rise - Part 01, Kantara and RRR ensured that southern storytelling was no longer incidental, it was central.

Among the southern-language industries, Malayalam cinema has emerged as the most intriguing outlier. Despite being the smallest in scale, it has consistently punched above its weight. Films like Manjummel Boys and Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life have travelled across states, while titles such as 2018 and Premam have shown modest overseas draws. Its combination of creative discipline and financial prudence has strengthened the entire value chain, making Malayalam cinema an appealing proposition not just for theatres but also broadcasters and streaming platforms chasing quality content with dependable economics.

Today, the fiercest battle for subscribers, originals and film rights is unfolding in southern India. Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka have become high-growth markets. Every major platform is investing aggressively, drawn by more than 250 million people, deep digital penetration, mature entertainment habits and a willingness to pay.

L V Krishnan, chief executive officer of TAM Media Research, notes that southern audiences have historically shown about 50% higher content consumption. “With growing digital penetration and diverse storylines, content consumption is being further boosted by streaming platforms. Easy and cost-effective AI-driven dubbing has broadened the appeal of southern content to a global audience.”

India’s streaming ecosystem has exploded to 57 OTT platforms, spanning national giants and regional players like Aha, Sun NXT and ETV Win. Ormax Media estimates the country’s OTT audience will touch 600 million by year-end, powered by rising connected-TV usage expected to hit 129 million. With 562 million smartphones and nearly 50 million connected-TV screens, digital entertainment is now the default mode of consumption.

Content supply has kept pace —India churns out close to 200,000 hours of original programming a year—from over 1,600 films to more than 2,600 hours of premium OTT series, says a FICCI-EY report. Paid streaming is also expanding, with subscription video users projected to rise from 47 million in 2024 to about 65 million by 2027.

Although platforms do not reveal regional subscriber splits, executives say the South contributes disproportionately to paid users and viewing hours. The region’s 143 million OTT users nearly match North India’s 151 million despite its smaller population base, according to Ormax. Half the southern population already consumes OTT content, the highest penetration in India.

The investment momentum reflects this energy. Platforms are building larger content teams in Chennai and Hyderabad, experimenting with new pricing models and aggressively commissioning original series that reflect local culture rather than merely ticking regional boxes. The era of token presence is over; depth is the new strategy.

For Netflix, Prime Video and ZEE5, southern growth is fuelled by blockbuster films and originals. For JioHotstar and Sony LIV, sports strengthen their entertainment pipeline. Local giants such as JioHotstar and ZEE5 also benefit from steady daily TV content that reinforces platform stickiness.

“Streaming created a watershed moment for South cinema. During the pandemic, high quality subtitles and dubbing removed language barriers and audiences discovered stories they never had access to,” said Monika Shergill, VP content, Netflix India.

In 2022, South content viewership grew 50% year-on-year, with South titles appearing in Netflix’s global non-English Top 10 list in about 17 countries the following year. This number has now risen to 26. Last year, Vijay Sethupathi’s Maharaja became Netflix’s most-watched Indian film globally.

“South storytelling is not just becoming bigger in India, it is becoming mainstream. A large part of our slate today consists of South movies, and we acquire the Hindi dubbing rights along with multiple subtitle and dubbing language rights. This allows these powerful films to travel across different audiences,” Shergill said.

Early OTT investment focused heavily on acquiring South Indian films. Titles such as Pushpa, Kantara, Kalki 2898 AD and KGF fetched some of the highest digital acquisition fees. Films still trigger subscriber spikes, but platforms are now investing more in long-form originals to build retention.

Netflix recently announced six new Tamil and Telugu originals, underscoring long-term commitment.

“We currently have about 26 shows in development, negotiation or production for the South. This is the largest pipeline of South Indian content we have ever had,” said Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals, Prime Video India, adding that 60% of users watch content in multiple languages.

Sony LIV is developing 13 regional originals, 11 of them from the South. Sony LIV’s business head Danish Khan said the South’s strong legacy in films and television raises creative expectations. “Tamil and Telugu are large markets both within India and internationally. Malayalam has become a supplier of strong stories across India.”

Khan noted that consumption patterns in South India mirror national trends—sports, films and originals drive engagement. Sony LIV acquires only select Malayalam films for cost efficiency. The subscriber split is around 80:20 male to female and viewership is 70:30 in favour of men. “OTT penetration in South India is already high and content consumption per user is higher than the national average,” he said.

“We anticipate a substantial rise in the volume of OTT content originating from the South in the coming years.”

JioHotstar plans to triple its South slate to 1,500 hours of original and acquired programming over the next year. JioStar head of entertainment, South cluster, Krishnan Kutty said one-third of the platform’s viewers are from the South and account for a disproportionately high share of watch time.

“The Tamil and Telugu markets are the largest in terms of heft and creative ecosystem. Kerala punches far above its weight because it has a strong pool of storytellers. Some of our most successful movies and specials have come from Kerala. In Karnataka, we are at an early stage, but we are very excited about that market too,” Kutty said.

ZEE5 chief business officer Siju Prabhakaran said, “South contributes up to 45% of our total OTT watch time. Language packs contribute roughly 60-70% of our new subscribers. Each market has a business head who understands local culture and stories. For us, content is the hero.” ZEE5’s language packs are priced at Rs. 99 per month and Rs. 699 annually.

Executives say South Indian audiences are shaping a distinct OTT playbook. The region’s entrenched TV habits and strong cinema culture push platforms to create habit-forming content. Films remain the biggest subscription catalyst, with Prabhakaran estimating 50- 60% of new subscribers still coming from movies. Prime Video also notes the South’s affinity for films.

To build retention, platforms are adopting TV style storytelling. JioHotstar’s 80–100 episode series are “breaking conventional norms of digital content” as viewers return weekly. ZEE5’s OTT-first reality shows are among its biggest non-fiction subscription drivers.

The South is no longer a regional appendage to the national entertainment market. It has become the creative engine powering India’s soft-power ambitions. As language barriers fall and audiences embrace Indian stories, creators from Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka are leading the charge. Streaming has not only expanded southern cinema’s audience; it has reshaped India’s entertainment economy and its cultural centre of gravity.

- JioHotstar plans to triple its South slate to 1,500 hours over next year.

- Prime Video has 26 South-origin shows in the pipeline.

- SonyLIV has 13 regional originals, 11 of them from the South.

- ZEE5 says the South accounts for 45% of its OTT watch time, driven by aggressively priced language packs.

- Netflix has announced six new Tamil and Telugu originals; says views of South content grew 50% YoY in 2022.

Every one loves Malayalam cinema. Just ask them. Critics gush. Film festivals swoon. North Indian cinephiles drop references to Aattam and Manjummel Boys at dinner parties to establish their impeccable taste. But in the immortal words of Jerry Maguire: “Show me the money!” If love paid bills, Malayalam producers wouldn’t be threatening a complete industry shutdown from June 1.

It’s a curious paradox: 2024 was a banner year for Malayalam cinema when the survival drama Manjummel Boys, with a Rs 20 crore budget and gross earnings of Rs 240+ crore, became the highest grossing Malayalam film ever, while Gen-Z romance Premalu, with a Rs 3 crore budget and Rs 136 crore in revenue, emerged as possibly India’s most profitable film of the year. There are plenty of others that left a lasting imprint on the cultural landscape.

Aavesham, an action film starring Fahadh Faasil, became a phenomenon, dominating social media with viral reels and memes. Aattam, a movie that deals with sexual harassment and brought to life by a cast of nine actors from theatre, clinched the National Award for Best Feature Film as Malayalam cinema swept eight awards at the 70th National Film Awards. The critic’s darling of Indian cinema was finally getting its due.

Meanwhile, in Kerala, producers stared at their balance sheets with such desperation that you would think they were mentally cataloguing their organs by market value.

The brutal economics of filmmaking has always involved risk—most businesses understand that failure is more common than success. But in Malayalam cinema, we are witnessing a particularly perverse form of capitalism: actors pocket 60% of production budgets and walk away unscathed when films tank, only to demand higher fees for their next project, according to G Suresh Kumar, vice-president of the Kerala Film Producers Association (KFPA). The producer alone bears the crushing weight of failure, he says.

Industry insiders point to the case of the Tovino Thomas-starrer Identity —produced at Rs 30 crore, it collected a mere Rs 6 crore in January, approximately equal to the actor’s paycheck. While Thomas reportedly offered another date to help the producer recoup losses, the fundamental question remains: if actors inflated their rates during the OTT boom, shouldn’t they settle for less money, now that the bubble has burst?

The cautionary tales are piling up faster than unpaid invoices. Take Sureshanteyum Sumalathayudeyum Hrudayahariyaya Pranayakadha, starring newcomer Rajesh Madhavan. It began with a budget of Rs 4 crore but ballooned to Rs 20 crore— a 500% increase, equivalent to the cost of a typical Mammootty film —with allegedly no cost-control efforts from director Ratheesh Balakrishnan, according to co-producer Ajith Thalappilly.

Thalappilly says he had to sell his Mercedes-Benz and teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, saved only by a last-minute intervention from a distributor. The director still collected his hefty paycheck, speculated to be Rs 1 crore, and demanded 30% profits from a film that spectacularly flopped, according to an industry insider who requested anonymity.

This isn’t the industry’s first financial crisis. Malayalam cinema has weathered storms before, but the scale has changed dramatically. Where losses once registered in lakhs of rupees, they now balloon into double-digit crores, creating recovery periods measured in decades rather than years.

What makes today’s predicament particularly treacherous is the aftermath of a false prosperity. The Covid-era OTT windfall had created a dangerous illusion. Streaming platforms were snapping up every Malayalam film, regardless of quality, paying premium prices that inflated everyone’s expectations. Actors doubled their fees overnight. Directors expanded budgets. Producers borrowed heavily, convinced that streaming rights would cover their investments.

Then reality hit with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. OTT platforms “recalibrated” their approach, realizing that Malayalam cinema’s audience reach didn’t justify their splurge, says an industry insider requesting anonymity. The new playbook: wait to see which films succeed in theatres, then cherry-pick the winners. For most producers, this means no OTT deal at all.

“Actors were thinking, if Allu Arjun can rake in Rs 400 crore, why can’t we manage Rs 1.5 crore? But when the bubble burst, they were not reducing their fee,” says the person quoted above.

Even the lucky few who secure streaming contracts face brutal negotiations, delays designed to pressure desperate producers into accepting lower fees, and payment schedules stretched over months. By the time the money arrives, interest on production loans would have already eaten away any potential profit.

Most Malayalam producers borrow from just four or five private financiers at interest rates that would make loan sharks blush—20-25%. Many end up bankrupt, their artistic dreams sacrificed at the altar of compound interest.

In one way, Suresh Kumar and his peers are reaping what they have sown. Like today’s OTT bubble, satellite television created a similar windfall at the start of the millennium, delivering huge profits for makers, actors and producers. Kumar particularly scored big during this period as one of Mohanlal’s main producers, until the actor began producing films himself.

These fault lines erupted recently when Suresh Kumar publicly revealed the budget of Empuraan, starring superstar Mohanlal and directed by Prithviraj—a staggering Rs 140 crore, making it the most expensive Malayalam film ever. Kumar suggested that Tamil Nadu-based Lyca Productions, which recently suffered massive losses from Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan starrers, was being “duped” into the Kerala market with promises of returns that don’t exist.

This ignited a firestorm. Antony Perumbavoor, Mohanlal’s long-time producer and confidant, issued a detailed rebuttal that was later shared by both Prithviraj and Mohanlal. Despite Kumar and Mohanlal being schoolmates and former collaborators, the controversy revealed a deeper schism—not between old friends, but between competing visions for Malayalam cinema’s future.

“The fight is not among them, but between an old guard and a new guard,” says an industry insider. Filmmakers like Prithviraj are charting a new territory, creating big-budget spectacles with global ambitions. “Empuraan’s cinematography is conceived with a worldwide audience in mind. The director wasn’t afraid to hire helicopters for action sequences, while the average Malayalam producer thinks twice before renting a Range Rover,” says someone from the production team.

Interestingly, amid this financial carnage, some of the industry’s biggest hits recently were produced not by traditional studios but by actors and directors themselves. Manjummel Boys came from actor Soubin Shahir and his circle under Parava Films. Premalu (along with critics’ darlings like Kumbalangi Nights and Joji) emerged from the creative triumvirate of actor-director Dileesh Pothan, writer Syam Pushkaran and Faasil.

This shift reveals two simultaneous truths: established producers are becoming increasingly risk-averse toward experimental content, and creative talents are seeking autonomy over their artistic visions.

Superstar Mammootty’s production company exemplifies this evolution. Through Mammootty Kampany, the veteran actor has systematically shattered his macho image, portraying characters who cry, experience loss, engage in explicit sexuality, commit honour killings and even come out as gay. In films like Rorschach, Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and Kaathal, Mammootty seems to be redefining what Malayalam cinema can explore.

Would traditional producers have green-lit these boundary-pushing projects? The evidence suggests otherwise. Other artist-led production companies also claim they are filling a creative void left by risk-averse legacy producers, even as they navigate the same treacherous financial landscape.

They believe this is an evolutionary phase of Malayalam cinema as it attempts to transform itself, reaching for audiences beyond Kerala’s borders. This ambition demands bigger stars, higher production values and technical crews of international calibre—all of which cost substantial sums that the traditional financing model cannot sustain. The legacy producers, the new guard believes, are not in sync with this new grammar of cinema trade and most have lost touch with ground reality both in terms of content and structure.

Beyond these creative tensions, the industry’s structural problems extend beyond Kerala’s borders. None of the mainstream OTT platforms have appointed decision-makers who can green-light Malayalam projects independently. Approval must come from Mumbai—a process that reveals either a fundamental lack of trust in local talent or a cynical assessment of the market’s importance. Either way, it creates additional hurdles for an already struggling industry.

What makes this situation particularly ironic is that all of this is happening in an industry that remains one of the most disorganized (most sets don’t even have a washroom for women), exploitative and poorly paying to writers, technicians and crew in India.

The fundamental problem, everybody agrees, is mathematical— Kerala’s cinematic brilliance is trapped in a population constraint. With just 3.5 crore people in the state and industry estimates suggesting only 50 lakh regular moviegoers, the numbers don’t add up. The theoretical best-case calculation is if every regular movie goer watches a film (indicating pan-state acclaim), at Rs 200 per ticket, the film might gross Rs 100 crore.

From that theoretical maximum, subtract 30% for taxes and 30-40% for distributors, and producers are left with Rs 20-25 crore before deducting marketing expenses. Now consider that most Rs 100 crore grossers require star power—actors now commanding fees in crores—along with top-tier directors, technicians and even screenwriters (at least one recently charged over Rs 1 crore for a script). Add production schedules stretching 60-90 days, and your budget easily exceeds Rs 20 crore.

Where exactly is the sustainable financial model here? Even in the best-case scenario, producers are barely breaking even. Most films achieve only a fraction of that theoretical maximum, guaranteeing financial disaster. In January 2025, out of 28 films released, only Asif Ali’s Rekhachithram turned a profit, with the industry losing Rs 110 crore in a month, as per KFPA. For 2024, the industry released 200 films with only 24 achieving financial success, resulting in losses of Rs 600-700 crore.

This means for Malayalam cinema to endure this transition, it needs more than just critical adulation and festival laurels. It needs a structural reset. The unchecked rise of actor fees must be reevaluated, ensuring that the burden of failure isn’t shouldered by producers alone. Financial institutions need to step in with saner lending rates before private financiers choke the industry’s future.

OTT platforms, if they truly value Malayalam cinema’s storytelling prowess, must establish regional decision-making bodies rather than treat the industry as an afterthought in Mumbai’s corporate boardrooms. Most importantly, producers must recognize that the age-old financing models— where success relies solely on Kerala’s limited theatrical audience—are no longer viable.

At the heart of it, the industry must decide what it truly wants to be. Right now, it’s like a half-baked screenplay— beautifully shot, critically acclaimed but structurally unsound. And as any filmmaker knows, no amount of festival buzz can save a story with a broken third act. Does it aspire to remain a niche darling of cinephiles and award circuits, or does it have the vision—and the discipline—to build an ecosystem that thrives both artistically and commercially?

Because right now, nobody loves Malayalam cinema—if you ask the people who produce it.

The writer is a Kerala-based journalist

Mumbai: Indian cinema’s box office receipts totalled Rs. 11,833 crore in 2024, marking the second-highest collection after hitting a record in the previous year, according to Ormax Media's annual box office report.

Box office receipts declined 3.21% from Rs. 12,226 crore in 2023, while footfall fell a steeper 6% year-on-year to 883 million, well below the pre-pandemic peak footfall of over 1 billion recorded in 2019, indicating increased dependence on average ticket price (ATP), which went up 3% to reach a historic high of Rs. 134.

Kannada and Telugu films saw ATP hikes owing to government cess and premium pricing, while Hollywood and Hindi films recorded the highest ATP of Rs. 245 and Rs. 203, respectively.

Sanket Kulkarni, head of business development (theatrical) at Ormax, saw the trend of relying on higher ticket prices rather than increased footfall to drive box office revenue continuing, signalling that cinema-going is increasingly becoming an event-driven activity, rather than a habit, especially in the case of Hindi films.

“Release schedule optimization, better supply of films, understanding the changing taste of the audiences and strategic utilization of franchises would be key for maximizing box office collections in 2025,” he said.

Hindi cinema faced a tough year, with collections falling 13% year-on-year to Rs. 4,679 crore, reducing its share by four percentage points to 40%. Despite hits such as Pushpa 2: The Rule (Hindi) and Stree 2, only six original Hindi films crossed receipts of Rs. 100 crore each, compared to 16 in 2023.

Notably, 31% of Hindi cinema’s revenue came from dubbed south Indian films, and collection from original Hindi films fell 37% on-year. Footfall declined 16% to 230 million, significantly below the pre-pandemic levels of more than 300 million. Experts said that despite declining footfall, Indian cinema showed resilience in 2024, with revenue driven largely by a few blockbusters. They highlighted significant growth in regional cinema, suggesting a shift in audience preferences, even as they cautioned that sustaining engagement would remain a key challenge.

“Though there has been a decline in terms of footfall, 2024 has been a year of tentpole movies and amongst them, Pushpa 2 turned out to be the biggest, holding the pole position of the highest grosser in Indian cinema, beating Bahubali 2's record by collecting Rs 1,200-plus crore,” said Nitin Menon, managing partner of NV Capital.

“Though the overall box office collection is similar to 2023’s, the worry is footfall, which is below pre-pandemic levels. High ticket prices, shorter OTT (over-the-top) windows and a lack of good content continue to be large factors in the dipping occupancy levels.”

Karan Taurani, senior vice-president at Elara Capital, said regional film markets continued to thrive, while the Hindi film industry faced challenges. “I wouldn’t be surprised if box office collection drops by 20% in 2025, especially if Hollywood films underperform. The decline in footfall has become a persistent issue and rising average ticket prices are insufficient to offset the losses,” he said.

Malayalam cinema had its best year yet, with box office revenue surging 104% from the previous year to Rs 1,165 crore, doubling its share to 10%. Footfall increased 88% to 12.6 crore, driven by hits such as Manjummel Boys and Aavesham, which performed well even outside Kerala. Telugu cinema set a record with Rs 2,348 crore in box office revenue, up 4% from the year ago, though footfall dropped 12% to 213 million. This marked the third consecutive year that Telugu cinema exceeded Rs 2,000 crore, led by Pushpa 2 and Kalki 2898 AD.

Mumbai: The Malayalam film industry is having a blockbuster year, with box office collections reaching Rs. 720 crore in the first five months and four films grossing over Rs. 100 crore each

According to Ormax Media, Malayalam films accounted for 19% of the cumulative box office collection of Rs. 3,791 crore across India during the five months through May. Malayalam titles Manjummel Boys, Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life and Aavesham were among the top 10 grossing movies in the country during this period, according to Ormax Media.

As per several reports, another Malayalam movie, Premalu, also made more than Rs. 100 crore in box office collections.

Experts attribute the success of Malayalam films to their diverse content offerings, bolstered by weaker line-ups in other languages, including Hindi. Malayalam films are gaining strong traction outside their traditional markets of Kerala and the UAE.

E4 Entertainment founder Mukesh Mehta, who has produced multiple Malayalam films, said films like Manjummel Boys, Aadujeevitham and Aavesham offered diverse stories to audiences.

"Every movie is different from the other, and there is no repetition of the subject. That has helped Malayalam cinema. Moviegoers got to watch different types of movies," he said, adding: "We didn't have strong films in other languages like Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi. Hollywood releases were also impacted due to the writer's strike."

According to Mehta, Malayalam movies have started doing well in North America and Europe after Covid-19. Within India, these are finding traction outside Kerala as well, he added.

As per the Ormax report, Malayalam, along with Telugu, got the second-highest proportion of the cumulative domestic box office receipts behind Hindi, which had a 33% share. Malayalam films, which are produced at much smaller budgets compared with movies in other South Indian languages and Hindi, took home a larger portion of the box office collections than Tamil, which held a 13% share.

According to film trade website Sacnilk, Malayalam movies collected Rs. 406 crore outside India.

"Malayalam cinema has had a slew of hits over the last few months, and some of the movies even touched the magic Rs. 100 crore number, which was not a common phenomenon in Malayalam cinema until last year," said NV Capital cofounder Nitin Menon.

The general election has weighed heavily on the box office in April, amid delay in releases and underperformance of Bollywood films, experts said, adding that the scenario will remain unchanged or worsen in May. According to Ormax Media, gross domestic box office (BO) collections for April stood at Rs 457 crore - below the Rs 500-crore mark for the first time since February 2023.

A year ago, in April, the gross box office mop-up was at Rs. 618 crore, led by the performance of Tamil film Ponniyin Selvan II.

This year, despite Eid, Ugadi and Tamil New Year holidays falling in April, only one film managed to cross Rs 100 crore at the box office, according to the report. Malayalam action-comedy Aavesham was the top grosser, garnering Rs 101 crore.

Two more Malayalam films, Manjummel Boys and Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life, earned more than Rs 100 crore at the box office so far this year. However, the second-highest grosser in April, Hindi action thriller Bade Miyan Chote Miyan, only managed Rs 73 crore, followed by sports drama Maidaan, at Rs 61 crore.

Miraj Entertainment managing director Amit Sharma said, "Elections have kept film releases away post-Eid."

"Due to this, April has been one of the worst months so far," said Sharma of Miraj. He also pointed to subpar performances of the two Hindi releases in April and indicated that a dearth of big openings may lead to further deterioration at the box office in May.

PVR Inox executive director Sanjeev Bijli expects a surge in moviegoers after the election. "What will change is the robust pipeline. People (will be) back at cinemas because of the supply... the appetite to go out and watch movies has always been there," he said during the company's fourth quarter earnings call recently.

Cumulative box office collections for January-April are Rs 3,071 crore, on a par with the same period last year.

The top grossers of 2024 till now are Fighter (Rs 243 crore), Hanuman (Rs 240 crore), Shaitaan (Rs 179 crore), Manjummel Boys (Rs 170 crore) and Guntur Kaaram (Rs 142 crore).

Hindi films had the highest share of gross domestic collections (36%), followed by Telugu (21%), Malayalam (19%), Tamil (9%) and English (8%).

Gross movie box office collections for 2024 in India are projected to drop 15% to Rs. 10,360 crore on the basis of data from the first three months of the year, following a record high in 2023, research firm Ormax Media said in its latest box-office report. The Indian box-office collection reached an all-time high of Rs. 12,226 crore in 2023, registering a 15% growth over 2022. The previous box office record was Rs. 10,948 crore in 2019.

Hindi films had a 36% share of the box-office collection, followed by Telugu and Malayalam films with 23% and 16% shares, respectively. Both Hollywood and Tamil films had a 9% share of the box-office collection. The cumulative box-office collection registered 7% year-on-year growth to touch Rs. 2,590 crore in Q1 2024, despite a lacklustre performance in February. Seven films earned more than Rs. 100 crore at the box-office during the quarter.

"March has proven to be a healthy month for the domestic box-office with collections totalling Rs. 971 crore. The diverse lineup of films across languages includes Shaitaan, leading the pack with Rs. 173 crore," said Sanket Kulkarni, head of business development (theatrical) at Ormax Media.

He added Malayalam cinema continues its remarkable streak with Aadujeevitham - The Goat Life joining the ranks of successful films, bringing the total collections for Malayalam cinema to Rs. 405 crore, constituting 71% of the entire Malayalam box office in 2023.

"The net box-office collections have dropped by 20% to Rs. 900 crore in Q1 2024 compared to the same quarter last year. The second quarter is also looking unimpressive, with no major releases planned for May. With setbacks in two back-to-back quarters, we have large recoveries to make in the last two quarters of 2024," says film business expert Girish Johar.

In Q1, Fighter (Hindi) and Hanuman (Telugu) had the highest box office collections of Rs. 243 crore and Rs. 241 crore, respectively. Both Manjummel Boys (Malayalam) and Shaitaan (Hindi) had collections of Rs. 173 crore

Guntur Kaaram (Tamil), Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (Hollywood), and Aadujeevitham-The Goat Life (Malayalam) collected Rs. 142 crore, Rs. 129 crore, and Rs. 102 crore, respectively. During the quarter, March saw the highest monthly box-office collections of Rs. 971 crore on the back of strong performances by Shaitaan, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and Aadujeevitham.

In January, the box-office collections stood at Rs. 934 crore, with Fighter, Hanuman, and Guntur Kaaram dominating the list. February saw a modest box-office collection of Rs. 685 crore with just two films, Manjummel Boys and Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, attaining receipts of over Rs. 100 crore.

In 1991, when Kamal Hassan-starrer Tamil psychological romantic drama ‘Gunaa’ hit the box office, it had an average run. However, over the next few years, the film achieved a ‘cult status’, with its song ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ — composed by the legendary Ilaiyaraaja — becoming a rage. The film’s most lasting contribution, surprisingly, was something else. Parts of the film were shot in the hill station Kodaikanal, including a cave known back then as the Devil’s Kitchen. The notoriously dangerous cave became so popular as a tourist spot as a result that it began to be known as ‘Guna Caves’.

Over three decades later, Kamal Hassan, ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ and Guna Caves have gripped the imagination of cinephiles again, this time through a Malayalam film. ‘Manjummel Boys’ is a dramatic re-telling of the real story of a bunch of friends whose trip to the caves in 2006 turned into a disaster after one of them got trapped in it. The film — stripped of any ‘star’, songs, or even a female lead — has sprung a surprise and emerged as the first Malayalam film to enter the Rs 200 crore club.

A fourth of that has come from Tamil Nadu. Ruban Mathiavan, managing director of Chennai-based G K Cinemas, says even after five weeks, some shows are running housefull. “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.

Not just in this particular film, but in multiple movies and web shows today, linguistic and state boundaries are blurring. From dialogues to pop culture references, filmmakers cater to an audience that’s increasingly multi-lingual, mobile, and more comfortable with subtitles than ever before.

Big star-led blockbusters such as ‘KGF’, ‘RRR’ and ‘Baahubali’ led the way, but have now opened the floodgates for more experimental forms of content, says Harshit Bansal, founder of Humans of Cinema, an online community of cinephiles that has nearly four lakh followers on Instagram. “Audiences are now more comfortable with the cinematic languages of different regions. From action sequences, songs and background music, to how women are portrayed... Everything differs. A Marathi film looks very different from a Tamil film. Audiences are realizing that they don’t need to turn to Hollywood or Korean cinema in order to get something different,” Bansal says.

What this means is that ‘pan-India’ content today has dived deeper, moving away from lazy remakes, television re-runs with oft-hilarious and unsynced dubbing, or merely putting together stars from different regions in order to broaden the appeal.

For instance, two different versions of Sriram Raghavan’s ‘Merry Christmas’ were simultaneously shot in Hindi and Tamil. In an earlier media interview, Raghavan said he didn’t want any of the versions to ‘sound dubbed’. While the story of the slow-burn romantic thriller was almost identical, the references were carefully tweaked: the Hindi version had references to Rajesh Khanna, the Tamil one had Kamal Hassan. Two different teams of writers were hired for the languages, and original songs were composed for each! Bollywood’s Katrina Kaif and Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi were leads in both versions, but the secondary cast differed.

However, some things remained the same. Both the versions were dedicated to director Shakti Samanta, and Sethupathi’s credits referred to him via his popular Tamil title ‘Makkal Selvan’ (people’s treasure).

In last year’s biggest hit ‘Jawan’ too, references to an old song being played at a pivotal point in the film differed in each version. The Hindi one had ‘Bekaraar Karke Yun Na Jaiye’ (Bees Saal Baad, 1962), the Tamil one had ‘Paattu Padava’ (Thennilavu, 1961), and the Telugu one had ‘Ee Mounam’ (Doctor Chakravarthi, 1964).

In ‘Manjummel Boys’, director Chidambaram didn’t shy away from letting the audiences know his inspirations. Illustrations from ‘Kanmani Anbodu’ play in the background as the title credits come on screen. The boys buy a CD of the film and play the song on the trip. They refer to the caves as the ‘place where the Kamal Hassan song was shot’. And, perhaps most fittingly, the love song plays in the climax itself, with the lyrics now spotlighting the power of friendship instead.

“The idea to put the song in the climax was in my head even before I started writing the film. I asked my team to get the rights to it before the production started. I told them if we can’t get them, then I won’t make the film. Everything else was written around it,” the director says.

Interestingly, the second half of the film has more Tamil dialogue than Malayalam, which Chidambaram says is ‘organic’ because of the setting. “Lingual boundaries are blurring. Even if one has to make a movie in Bengaluru, the characters can’t just speak Kannada. There will be a mixture of Kannada, Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu. Similarly, Malayalam content also has to change. That’s how our country is today,” he adds.

In the world of OTTs too, different settings are being explored in order to offer something fresh to the audiences. From characters speaking a mish-mash of different languages to stories being set in far-away locations, creators are opting for it all. Netflix India’s dark comedy ‘Killer Soup’, for instance, is set in a fictional hill station in South India, and has dialogues in Hindi, Tamil, and Dakhni. Starring Manoj Bajpayee and Konkana Sen Sharma as the leads, it is based on a 2007 murder case in Telangana, and has emerged as a sleeper hit.

Harshad Nalawade, one of the writers of the show, says the fictional setting allowed them to also create more eccentric characters that spoke in peculiar accents and mannerisms. “We didn’t want to make yet another show that is set in a small town in north India. I think a section of the audience is tired of content coming from the north, and there’s no fresh world that they are seeing. So this was the opportunity to actually explore that,” he says.

Raj and DK’s hugely popular shows ‘The Family Man’ (season two) and ‘Farzi’, which featured a few Tamil dialogues alongside Hindi, made it easier for the audience to consume more of it in subsequent shows, the writer adds.

One thing is clear. For more and more viewers in India today, language is no bar. As South Korean director Bong Joon-ho said in his 2020 Oscars acceptance speech: “Once you overcome the one-inch tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.”

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Others are creating a whole new language themselves. At the global boxoffice, the sequel to Denis Villeneuve’s scidrama ‘Dune’ has earned accolades for offering viewers a glimpse into the fictitious Chakobsa language, created by a group of linguistic experts who borrowed from real-world languages. 

In India, grim survival drama ‘Kaala Paani’ has managed to do the same. Set in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, it traces the journey of tourists and officials who try to tackle the outbreak of a mysterious disease.

The fact that it featured tourists from multiple parts of the ‘mainland’ made the use of a multilingual setup necessary, says creator Sameer Saxena. However, the main challenge was to create a fictional language spoken by the ‘Oraka’ tribe featured in the show.

“We got language scholars from across the world, and made a guidebook from scratch, with all the alphabets and pronunciations. We didn’t want it to sound similar to any of the existing tribal languages,” Saxena points out.

The end product was rather finessed, as opposed to the often-derogatory representations of tribal languages that have existed previously. (Think : the jhinga la la hoo hoo songs in the past.)