The Kerala Story, directed by Sudipto Sen, has become the second-biggest success of the year, exceeding the lifetime receipts of Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor, in less than two weeks. Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, directed by Luv Ranjan, concluded its lifetime run with a total of Rs 149.05 cr in India.
According to the reports, the Kerala Story recorded single-digit collections for the first time since its opening day of Rs 8.03 crores, but it was still enough for it to easily surpass the Rs 150 crore threshold. According to preliminary estimates, the movie made Rs 9.80 crore on its second Tuesday, bringing its total box office collection to Rs 156.84 crore.
Further according to the early trends report of Sacnilk, ‘The Kerala Story’ has done a business of Rs 9.25 crores on the second Wednesday i.e. on the 13th day of its release, after which the total earning of the film has now gone up to Rs 165.94 crore. With this, ‘The Kerala Story’ is now rushing towards the Rs 200 crores club.
Notably, the movie directed by Director Sudipto Sen had earlier become the fourth Hind film to cross the Rs 100 crores club at the box office this year. The other Bollywood movies which have crossed the Rs 100 crores club this year are Pathaan, Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar, and Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan.
Trade estimates now predict that ‘The Kerala Story’ will easily earn more than Rs 200 crore. After Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan, which shattered box office records with receipts of more than Rs 500 crore, it will become just the second Hindi movie of the year to cross the 200-crore milestone.
Salman Khan’s Eid release ‘Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan’, Ajay Devgn’s actioner ‘Bholaa’, Akshay Kumar’s comic drama ‘Selfiee’, and Kartik Aaryan’s ‘Shehzada’ were all major releases backed by star power that have been left behind by ‘The Kerala Story’.
It was earlier reported how ‘The Kerala Story’ actually surpassed even the earnings of ‘Pathaan’ when it comes to return on investment (ROI). Shah Rukh Khan’s Pathaan which was released in January this year earned a massive Rs 543.22 crore nett at the Indian box office and reaped profits of Rs 293.22 crores. The budget of the film was Rs 250 crores and its ROI stood at 117.28%. In comparison, Kerala Story already had an ROI of 276% within 9 days of its release.
The multilingual project, featuring Adah Sharma and written and directed by Sudipto Sen, has garnered a lot of attention since the makers released its trailer. Liberals and the opposition particularly the Left and the Congress have labeled it as a propaganda piece and demanded a ban on its screening.
The movie revolves around Shalini Unnikrishnan, played by Adah Sharma, an innocent Hindu woman from Kerala, who is brainwashed by her Muslim friend and gets converted to Islam and marries a Muslim man. The lead actress soon realizes that she has been trapped in a huge terrorist web after she is raped, separated from her only child, and then forced to serve as a sex slave.
