Almost 30 years ago,
The Kerala Story box office collection: A film released a couple of weeks before the Independence Day. This movie didn’t have many takers, had a limited screen release, and the so-called critics spewed venom against the same. But once the masses got a whiff, they watched the film to the extent that even today, “Hum Aapke Hain Koun” is one of the greatest, and the most successful movies to be made in the history of Indian cinema. Almost 3 decades later, history is repeating with “The Kerala Story”.
“The Kashmir Files” next?
To be fair, “The Kerala Story” is just not a film anymore. It is a mass movement, that is gaining popularity with each passing second. Like they say, “money and time spent on brain never goes down the drain”, the same applies for “The Kerala Story”.
Directed by Sudipto Sen, the film, starring Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani etc., has amassed a mind-numbing total of Rs. 203.47 crores, in less than 20 days. Yes, in less than 3 weeks, a movie, made on a budget of some 15 to 20 crores, has amassed a whopping total of more than 200 crores!
#TheKeralaStory cruises past ₹ 200 cr mark… Achieves ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER status… [Week 3] Fri 6.60 cr, Sat 9.15 cr, Sun 11.50 cr, Mon 4.50 cr. Total: ₹ 203.47 cr. #India biz. Nett BOC. #Boxoffice pic.twitter.com/Dy2EVIp2pe
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) May 23, 2023
Also read: The meltdown of “The Economist” over “The Kerala Story” is both hilarious and delicious
But this is just the beginning. As of now, until 16 June, with the sole exception of Hollywood movies like “Spider Man : Across the Spider Verse”, “The Kerala Story” has virtually no opposition from Indian cinema, not even the multilingual cinema to be honest. As such, it has a golden chance to overwhelm “The Kashmir Files” in terms of both domestic and international collection. “The Kashmir Files” earned almost Rs. 255 crores domestically, and “The Kerala Story” has an effective shot at the ultimate glory, with more than two weeks of active run still remaining.
A blockbuster to be remember
However, in terms of success, “The Kerala Story” is not just any random success. It is officially an “All Time Blockbuster”, and might soon find its place in the list of the most successful Indian movies.
If you think we’re kidding, just have a look at the following figures.
Let’s not go very far. Analyze the odds stacked against “The Kashmir Files”. The movie received a paltry 400 screens for its initial release. Yet, the word of mouth was so strong, that even before the day ended, almost all the screens were jam packed, by my own experience. In less than a week, the screens increased by leaps and bounds, and for a film made on a shoe string budget of 15 crores, the movie earned Rs. 97 crores in just a week itself. That is 6 times the original cost!
Now if we compare that with “The Kerala Story”, the movie has had surprisingly a dream run of its own. “The Kashmir Files” was special not just because of its approach, but also because it faced heavyweights like “RRR”, “KGF 2”, even disasters like “Bacchan Paandey” to amass a whopping 350 crores worldwide. On the other hand, even if we take 20 crores as a parameter, then assuming the movie has a lifetime collection of 250 crores plus, the movie has a profit of a mind-boggling 1150 percent, even more if need be.
Also read: Kerala Story ban: Perfect Balancing, the Chandrachud way!
Lest we forget, both “The Kashmir Files” and “The Kerala Story” have one common thing in factor: none of them had big ticket stars. “The Kashmir Files” still had the luxury of actors like Mithun Chakraborty, Anupam Kher etc., but how many of you exactly knew anything about Adah Sharma, or even Yogita Bihani for that matter, before “The Kerala Story” released in the theatres?
The Kerala Story box office collection: Signs of Change?
Now just ask yourself, how many movies this year have achieved such a huge return on investment? This puts the movie at par with not just “The Kashmir Files”, but also movies like “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”, “Gadar”, even “Baahubali series” to name a few. For instance, if we look at “Hum Aapke Hain Koun”, the movie earned a whopping 1400 crores approximately, with over 70 million footfalls, all on a modest budget of Rs. 6.25 crores [as of 1994], the ROI being nothing less than 1500 percent, and we haven’t even touched the figures of films like “Sholay” and “Gadar” as of yet. For all its hullabaloo, “Pathaan” couldn’t even come close to the bombastic success of the above, let alone deliver a profit margin worth remembering.
[All figures inflation adjusted]
So, putting things into perspective, “The Kerala Story” collection and story is a case study in itself, which has a profound message: Just stick to basics, and keep it simple. There are films like Brahmastra, which couldn’t be saved despite the laser light show they called as VFX, and then come films like “The Kerala Story”, which did a simple but really tough job: Show the truth as it is.
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