All March releases, except Empuraan, flopped at box office, as per producers’ association’s figures

A majority of the Malayalam films released in March this year failed at the box office with Empuraan being the sole exception, according to monthly figures put out by the Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) on Sunday.

The collection records put out by the producers’ association are partial as it takes into account only the producers’ share from Kerala theatres after excluding the overseas revenues, OTT revenues and exhibitors’ share.

As per the figures, Mohanlal-starrer Empuraan, directed by Prithviraj, collected ₹24.65 crore from theatres in Kerala on the first five days of its run, till March 31. Though there were wild speculations on its budget, the producers’ association records it as ₹175.66 crore, making it the most expensive Malayalam film till date. The makers had recently put out posters claiming that the film has collected ₹325 crore worldwide, including from OTT sales.

Collection records for March.

A good number of smaller films fared poorly at the box office. Maruvasham, made at a cost of ₹78 lakh collected just ₹60,000, while Pralayashesham Oru Jalakanyaka with a budget of ₹1.5 crore collected ₹64 lakh. Aranyam with a budget of ₹85 lakh managed to collect just ₹22,000, Leech with a budget of ₹1 crore got only ₹45,000 and Kaadakam made at ₹30 lakh collected ₹80,000. Rakshasy The Lady Killer made at a cost of ₹60 lakh collected ₹4 lakh while Dasettante Cycle made at a cost of ₹70 lakh collected ₹8 lakh.

Partial figures

Among the films with partial collection figures as they were still running in theatres are Ouseppinte Osiyath which collected ₹45 lakh (budget – ₹4 crore), Pariwar which collected ₹26 lakh (budget – ₹2.6 crore), Vadakkan which collected ₹20 lakh (budget – ₹3.65 crore) and Abhilasham which collected ₹15 lakh (budget – ₹4 crore).

The producers’ association‘s recent practice of publishing the box office collection figures appears to not have gone down well with many from within the industry as even successful films might look like failures due to the partial figures that are published, according to people within the industry.