If Covid took a heavy toll on Malayalam film industry in 2022, 2023 appears to be worse with just four films released in theatres that turned hit, while another 12 films managed to break even, thanks to the OTT release.
As 2023 comes to a close, there will be around 220 Malayalam films released and with just 16 films bringing in the money for the producers, the Producers Association has estimated the total loss will be around Rs 300 crores.
The four films that turned out to be a hit in the theatres are ‘2018’, ‘Kannur Squad’, ‘RDX’ and ‘Romancham’.
B. Rakesh, Secretary of the Association said things doesn’t augur well for Malayalam film industry according to the collections.
“Just four Malayalam films turned hit when running in the theatres, while 12 others managed to break even, thanks to OTT release,” said Rakesh.
Rakesh points out several reasons for the poor performance, the high cost of production being one of them.
“The remunerations are high, then unfavorable policies of the state government as there is a double tax being levied for the film industry which is not there in other states. The rates for shooting being charged by the state government also has been hiked hugely,” Rakesh added.
He further pointed out that 90 per cent of those who ventured into films this time are new people.
“We know of films that have not even collected a single rupee. This time there have been more films and the cost of production ranges from as low as Rs 10 lakh to as high as Rs 10 crore,” he said.
The biggest grosser this year turned out to be ‘2018’, a film made on the premise of the worst ever floods seen in the state in 2018.
Superstar Mammootty also had an excellent run which saw his film ‘Kannur Squad’ bringing in huge revenues also did ‘Kaathal’, while ‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayyakam’ won him rare reviews.
While superstar Mohanlal did not shine as expected, now all eyes are on his latest release to hit the screen in few hours is ‘Neru’.
The year 2023 also saw the passing away of hugely popular legendary actors Innocent, Mamu Koya, Poojapura Ravi and Subi Suresh besides ace director Siddique.