Malikappuram reigns supreme at Kerala box office by entering Rs 50 Cr club, can it repeat the feat in Tamil and Telugu?

Kerala box office is off to a flying start in 2023 and it has Unni Mukundan’s surprise hit Malikappuram to thank for. The movie, which is helmed by Vishnu Sasi Shankar and scripted by Abhilash Pillai, outperformed all the new releases the past week, including Mammootty’s Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam, Manju Warrier’s Ayisha and Antony Varghese’s Poovan to emerge the box office winner for fourth consecutive weekend.

The film, which released on December 30, also registered its highest ever single-day gross this weekend, collecting Rs 3 crore from Kerala box office alone. Unni took to his social media page on Sunday to share, “Reporting the highest grossing single day for Malikappuram #Day24.”

According to the makers, the movie has already collected Rs 50 crore from worldwide gross. In a recent interview with us, Unni had said, “I think Malikappuram’s journey has only begun. It will have bigger numbers after its other-language. It will be releasing in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. Maybe after that we can take stock of how well the movie has done in the box office.”

Considering the numbers that it has done in Kerala, the film has already become a hugely profitable venture for its makers as it was made on a budget of Rs 3.5 crore. The film is now all set for its Tamil and Telugu release on January 26.

Unni, himself, has agreed that the Ayyappa devotees have formed a majority of the family audience who had turned up in theatres. “I owe this success to two reasons. Firstly, the Ayyappa devotees, whom I believe, have spread the word that this film has earnestly tried to present Lord Ayyappa well. Secondly, it’s a genuinely well-made film,” he said. The Tamil and Telugu population also has a great percentage of Ayyappa devotees and the makers will be hoping that they would turn up in theatres to watch the film.

The film revolves around an eight-year-old girl named Kalyani and her relationship with Lord Ayyappa. Apart from Unni, it also has Ramesh Pisharody, Manoj K Jayan, Saiju Kurup and Renji Panicker in pivotal roles. Malikappuram's OTT rights have been bought by Disney+ Hotstar.