As the year 2023 enters its final leg, a cursory glance into the Malayalam film industry alarmingly reveals that there were just four super hits this year. As per the statistics available till December 8, only 13 out of the 209 movies released during the period could achieve the break-even point and return the investment to the producer.

The total number of releases, this year, is expected to cross 220 with some ten more movies slated to hit the theaters this month. The upcoming releases also include ‘Neru’, the Mohan Lal-starrer directed by Jeethu Joseph, and ‘Queen Elizabeth’ starring Meera Jasmine and Narain, among others. The year is marked by the highest number of film releases ever.

Such has been the rush that the producers were forced to dish out even 18 releases in some weeks. The majority of these releases even failed to yield the expense of pre-release promotions, let alone recover the production costs. Amidst the mayhem, ‘2018’ is the only movie to turn out a blockbuster and it even earned a nomination to the Oscars bringing some cheer to the industry.

While the Malayalam movies witnessed a downslide in business, the big-ticket movies from Tamil made a huge impact in the Kerala market. The Rajnikanth-starrer Jailer, for instance, earned a share worth over Rs 20 crore. The Vijay movie ‘Leo’, Raghava Lawrence film ‘Jigarthanda’, Shahrukh Khan-starrer ‘Jawan’ and ‘Pathaan’, too did good business here. The Film Chamber estimates that the overall loss to the film industry this year would amount to Rs 700 crore. The majority of those who burned a hole in their pockets were those who had produced their first movie. The situation has turned so grim that the movies, which once fetched up to Rs 5 crore as satellite rights, are not even receiving Rs 50 lakh now.

With the income from OTT and satellite business making a sharp fall, theatre collection remains the major source of earnings for the film industry players. The OTT prospects of movies are directly linked to the response they generate at the screening houses, with hit films raking in revenue at the OTT platforms as well.

However, Anto Joseph, president, Kerala Film Producers Association, urged actors and technicians to lower their demands, since OTT business is ‘non-existent’, unlike the months post the pandemic outbreak. “The OTT business, which boomed after the pandemic outbreak, is non-existent. The actors and technicians, who raised their salaries in view of the huge money offered by the OTT platforms, should be ready to lower their reward demands now. They should instead come forward to accept the profit-sharing model.”

Saji Nanthiyattu, secretary, Kerala Film Chamber, also aired his views on the existing trend. “There exists a tendency to lure new producers to the film production by highlighting the OTT and Satellite business prospects. That’s a tragic situation. The government too is regarding the cinema industry as a milking cow. Besides offering no incentives at all, the location rent of government-owned facilities has been doubled over time.”

Super Hits of 2023
‘2018’ by Jude Anthony Joseph
‘Kannur Squad’ by Roby Varghese Raj
‘RDX’ by Nahas Hidayath
‘Romancham’ by Jithu Madhavan
Malikappuram, which was released on December 29, 2022, did good business in 2023

Hits of 2023
‘Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam’
‘Neymar’
Pranayavilasam’
‘Pachuvum Atbhuthavilakkum’
‘Pookkalam’
‘Garudan’
‘Falimy’
‘Kaathal’
‘Madhura Manohara Moham’