Year Ender 2024: Malayalam cinema shines at BO with 5 Rs 100 cr films

The Malayalam film industry had a relatively great year as far as qualitative cinema and box office performance goes For the longest time now the Malayalam cinema industry has been hailed for its contentdriven films but it never gets the box office success like the ones in Tamil Nadu and Telugu language films have had the privilege But all that changed this year The industry which makes films on small budgets saw five Rs 100 cr films in 2024 alone This is huge as the industry only has a total of eight films in the Rs 100 cr club Premalu Pulimurugan Aavesham 2018 Aadujeevitham Lucifer ARM Manjummel BoysFilms in focus 2024Malaikottai VaalibanPremaluAnweshippin KandethumManjummel BoysVarshangalkku SheshamARMKishkindha KaandamSookshmadarshiniAaveshamBramayugamGuruvayoor AmbalanadayilUllozhukkuAattamStand out performancesThe year began with terrific performances from the big Ms of the industry Mohanlal and Mammootty While Mohanlal played a charming wrestler for his first film with Lijo Jose Pelliessery set in a timeless era Mammootty unleashed his demonic side in the blackandwhite film Bramayugam Premalu a romcom saw several interesting performances especially from actors Sangeeth Pratap and Shyam Mohan In March Prithviraj stunned with his performance in Aadujeevitham with a mesmerising transformation Fahadh shed his inhibitions and gave one of his best performances with Aavesham while Nivin Pauly stole the act with his cameo in Varshangalkku Shesham On the other hand Asif Ali and Vijayarahavan gave a stellar performance in the mystery drama Kishkindha KadamAattam which largely went unnoticed during its theatrical release found its audience when it won the National Film Award The performances and narrative of the film won over the audiencesParvathy Urvashi in Ullozhukku Nazriya in Sookshmadarshini Mamitha Baiju in Premalu Zarin Shihab in Aattam Aparna Balamurali in Kishkindha Kadam are some of the standout performances by the women this yearBox office resultsMalayalam films are made on smaller budgets especially when compared to other language industries of India Therefore for a film from the region crossing the 100 cr mark at the box office is a major milestone The Malayalam movie industry so far has eight films in the 100 cr club of which five were released this year All these films are of different genres The year got its first 100 cr film in Premalu romcom fronted by the the industryrsquos promising stars Nelson and Mamitha Baiju The film was backed by Mallu landrsquos favourite Fafa Fahadh Faasil and his actorwife Nazriya It was directed by Girish AD who has previously excelled in this genre with films like Thanneer Mathan Dinangal and Super SharanyaNext up Prithvraijrsquos ambitious film Aadujeevitham The Goat Life crossed 100 cr at the global box office The ambitious bfilm directed by teh talented Blessy was in the making for 16 years Yes That is the dedication the makers put to narrate the real lfe story of a man who become victim of slavery when he visits Middleeast aspiring to earn for his familyThe mood and tone of the next 100 cr was light breezy Fahadh Faasil and Nazriyarsquos second production also graced the 100 cr club with Aavesham The film saw Fahadh winning hearts as the quirky gangster from Bengaluru who gets involved with a group of college students His Eda mone to his dance inIlluminati to his outfits left a mark on audiencesManjummel Boys is yet another story based on real life It narrates a tale of brotherhood and friendship A man who falls into a dangerous pit in the Guna caves is rescued by his friends even as professional firefighters deem the task riskyThe final 100 cr film was by Tovino Thomasstarrer ARM Ajayante Randam Moshanam The film is a fantasy drama with the narrative going through three different time periods following the story of one family in Northern Kerala Tovino plays three distinct roles in the filmViral elementsFahadh Faasilrsquos line lsquoEda Monersquo from the film Aavesham added two more words to the vocabulary knowledge of nonMalayalees this year The same film had everyone dancing to the tunes of Illuminati Another song that had people humming is the Kanmani Anbodu which was strategically used in the film Manjummel Boys and proved beneficial for the film promotions The film was originally composed by Ilaayaraja for Kamal Haasanrsquos 1986 film Guna Nivin Paulys comeback moment in Varshangalkku Shesham was a befitting monologue on nepotism that proved why he is an actor to watch out for despite a streak of nonperforming films at the box officeContent is kingAn outside glance may make it seem like Malayalam cinema has had a high success rate this year However that is not the case The industry produces 100 films a year most have minimal to no promotions on the ground failing to even register its release in the minds of the audience While the success rate may not be high the industry continued to produce content driven films with a large number of films getting acceptance and recognition from panIndia audience