Mohanlal’s Marakkar to have 500+ fan shows on Day 1 across Kerala, set to break Kurup’s opening day records?

12am, 3:30am, 7am – goes the show timings for Mohanlal’s Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham at a theatre in Kerala that will be screening the superstar’s magnum opus for fans when it releases on December 2. Across the State, fan associations report that close to 500 shows have been allotted for the much-awaited movie when it releases, with the first showing at midnight – a first in itself.

Reports suggest that the number of shows will increase depending on the performance of movies that will release on November 25 that includes Suresh Gopi’s Kaaval. However, one thing is certain Marakkar will pose a huge challenge to the opening day record that was revised by Kurup a few days ago.

Dulquer Salmaan’s crime-thriller Kurup opened in 500+ theatres and 2000 shows across Kerala on November 12 and bagged close to Rs 5Cr on the first day and about 15 Cr within the first three days. Considering that the theatres were allowed to operate only at 50% capacity, the figure is massive.

With producers and theatre owners lobbying to increase the occupancy in the coming weeks, Marakkar might well be on its way to break this record within just a month of Kurup setting it. This would provide a huge relief to theatres that have been shut for the better part of the past one and half years owing to the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Marakkar, which won this year’s National Film Award for Best Film, is also the most expensive Malayalam film, made on a budget close to Rs 90 Cr. The film’s producer had earlier mulled a direct-to-OTT release after discussions with theatre owners over revenue sharing had failed. This had forced Kerala minister Saji Cheriyan to step in and resolve the issues, leading to the producer announcing that the movie will release in theatres on December 2.

Priyadarshan’s Marakkar, which also has Pranav Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Suniel Shetty, Arjun Sarja and Keerthy Suresh.

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