While most film industries in the country faced a significant decline in box office collections in 2024 compared to the previous year and those that grew saw only modest gains Malayalam cinema witnessed exceptional growth of over 100 per cent, as per a recent Ormax report. The industry also doubled its box office share from 5 per cent in 2023 to 10 per cent in 2024, surpassing the Rs 1,000 crore GBOC milestone for the first time. Its footfalls, meanwhile, surged by 88 per cent, rising from 6.7 crore in 2023 to 12.6 crore in 2024.
Despite these achievements, Malayalam Cinema recorded losses amounting to Rs 650-700 crore in 2024 with only 26 out of the 204 films (199 new ones and five remastered old movies) which hit the screens emerging as box office successes. According to the Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA), though production costs soared to Rs 1,000 crore, the industry recovered just Rs 300-350 crore. To understand the broader picture and outlook for 2025, SCREEN spoke to a few key stakeholders from major film associations. While all of them agreed that the industry performed exceptionally well in terms of content and relatively well at the box office compared to 2023, they openly acknowledged that the overall financial state remains grim. They also identified skyrocketing production costs and escalating actors’ fees as major contributors to the heavy losses.