Dulquer Salmaan‘s crime thriller, ‘Kurup‘, released in theatres a couple of weeks back… And it has been garnering mixed reactions. Film reviewers have been quite critical of the film, but the box office numbers have shown that this movie is quite popular among film goers. In fact, ‘Kurup’ has made Rs. 100 crores in the box office – more than doubling the amount Netflix had offered for the exclusive streaming rights of the film of Rs. 40 crores.
‘Kurup’ was heading towards a direct-to-OTT release via Netflix, before Mammootty suggested that this film would fare better in theatres. The film producers then decided to cancel their contract with Netflix and opt for a theatrical review. Despite the critical reviews, the Rs. 100 crores plus box office earnings certainly proved the megastar right and his son (Dulquer Salmaan) made the right decision to premiere the film in theatres. In case you didn’t know already, the lead actor of ‘Kurup’, Dulquer, is also the producer of the film. And with a Rs. 100 crores box office earnings, it is the first Malayalam movie to make a 100 crores plus profit in 2021.
‘Kurup’ has proved that there is still a theatrical market for Malayalam films and thanks to the star power of Dulquer, the Malayalam feature has become a financial success. While critics will probably continue to have problems with this crime thriller, this film will go down in history as the first film to help Kerala theatres earn money after a near 16 month theatre lockdown. And despite the earlier rejection, we expect Netflix to try again – and hopefully get ‘Kurup’ streaming on their OTT platform before 2021 ends.