Yet another Onam has just whisked past us, but the festive vibes are yet to die down. People have not yet finished uploading their Onam photos on social media, fridges are still stacked with sadhya leftovers, and ‘discount offers’ tags still adorn retail outlets. The festive mood reverberates even in theatres with ‘houseful’ boards all around, irrespective of the show timings.
It’s true that festivals like Onam, Vishu, and Christmas have always witnessed a flourish in the Kerala box office, but this year’s glorious run is special for more than one reason. Tovino Thomas’ Ajayante Randam Moshanam (ARM), Asif Ali’s Kishkindha Kaandam, Antony Varghese’s Kondal, and the Rahman-starrer Bad Boyz were the four major mainstream releases that hit screens this Onam. Among the four, ARM and Kishkindha Kaandam have clearly emerged as the winners, with a tight battle between them for the first spot.
While ARM continued to dominate the collections during the initial weekend, the scales have now gradually started tilting towards Kishkindha Kaandam. Linto Davis, owner of the Vanitha-Veneetha Cineplex in Ernakulam, is extremely delighted with the performance of these two films. “Both ARM and Kishkindha Kaandam are going neck-to-neck in collections.
It’s exciting to see two films that were released on the same day doing equally well. On Thursday, all our shows for both these films were full by afternoon. We expect this momentum to continue beyond this weekend.
” Veteran producer Siyad Koker, who is also the president of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association, also sounds positive about the current box office trend in Kerala. “It’s been a good season so far. Even amidst the exceptional run of ARM and Kishkindha Kaandam, Antony’s Kondal and Bad Boyz are also holding pretty well.
People generally tend to talk only about the houseful shows, but the fact is, the other two films are also faring well.” It was just days before the festive season began that the Malayalam film industry faced a huge jolt in the form of the Hema Committee Report. With shocking details of harsh working conditions and harassment faced by women in Malayalam cinema, the report painted a poor picture of the industry.
Public outrage further intensified after several women started coming out against prominent male actors and directors, accusing them of sexual harassment. There were even calls to boycott Malayalam cinema, which loomed large over the Onam releases. But, going by the box office numbers, it is evident that none of it has had any impact.
“Such a report can never affect the Malayalam industry’s theatre business,” states Siyad Koker quite emphatically, adding, “I see many discussing the report’s release and its impact on theatres, but I don’t understand the connection. If a section wants to boycott our cinema, let them do so. What else can we do? The performance of these Onam releases further proves that people will continue supporting us if we continue to deliver quality films.
” Liberty Basheer, a theatre owner and the president of the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation, concurs with Siyad Koker’s observations about the Malayali audience’s relentless support for good films. There was a time when festival slots were usually allotted for superstar film releases, but things have changed now, feels Basheer. “People are not concerned about the star anymore, they just seek good content.
Take Kishkindha Kaandam for example, it has a relatively new team behind the camera, including the writer and director, but people have still lapped it up. It is already one of the biggest hits in Asif’s career. That’s the power of good content.
” Linto cites the example of Vaazha as a recent example of films without stars doing well at the box office. “There’s not a single big name attached to it, yet, the film has been managing a steady run, right from the beginning. Even during the Hema Committee report and the following issues, Vaazha continued unaffected.
We still have a couple of shows in our theatres.” Cinema is an integral part of Kerala’s vibrant culture, and a visit to theatres during festivals like Onam is a norm in most Malayali families. This is when the big stars come out with their one-size-fits-all entertainers aimed at audiences of all age groups.
Naturally, it created a perception that only ‘commercial entertainers’ fare well during festival seasons. However, the resounding success of Kishkindha Kaandam, a mystery thriller with an unhurried pacing, has shattered all such existing notions. The film centered around forgetful Appu Pillai, his grieving son Ajayachandran, and curious daughter-in-law Aparna, is set largely around a single location, devoid of the usual genre tropes.
It is a far cry from the recent formulaic thrillers that rely on racy screenplays, a barrage of twists, and the instant highs that come with it. “What Kishkindha Kaandam has managed is truly astounding,” says Linto, who was initially doubtful of this “high class” film’s performance during a festival season. “People usually prefer comedy or action entertainers during this time, but the response to this film is truly surprising.
After the first two days, word-of-mouth spread rapidly and people started flocking in large numbers.” Elaborating on the impact of word-of-mouth, Liberty Basheer says, “Word-of-mouth publicity is far more impactful than a full page advertisement in newspapers or any number of flex boards. We’ve seen this trend with several films over the years.
For this film, there was only a 30-40 percent audience till noon shows throughout Kerala. But by night, all the theatres were packed beyond expectations, which is purely because of word-of-mouth publicity.” According to trade experts, the Asif Ali-starrer has had more bookings in BookMyShow in the last 24 hours than any other Indian film, including ARM, Vijay’s GOAT, and the Hindi blockbuster Stree 2.
Siyad Koker, who watched a preview of Kishkindha Kaandam much before the release, says he was confident that the film would do well in the Onam season. “I really liked the film and knew it would succeed because content-oriented cinema will always have takers here. If you give the audience something different, they will celebrate it irrespective of its release period.
Premalu and Manjummel Boys were not released during festivals, but they were still blockbusters, right? In fact, a festival release is an added advantage because more people would be free to visit theatres.” Director Arun Bose, who made Luca and Marivillin Gopurangal, believes that Kishkinda Kaandam’s success is rewarding for several reasons. “Such a reception from the audience can inspire more filmmakers to attempt similar genres without having to water-down the screenplay.
This success was the need of the hour.”.
