Dulquer Salmaan’s ‘Kurup’ was expected to cross Rs. 90 crores in box office collections by this point. However, after the arrival of Mohanlal’s ‘Marakkar: Lion of The Arabian Sea’, the number of people attending ‘Kurup’ have slowed down drastically, with many opting to watch the Priyadarshan directed historical epic. The Dulquer Salmaan produced feature has made over Rs. 80 crores for now, and it looks this Malayalam crime drama will not become the third Malayalam movie to cross Rs. 100 crores. While this is not a foregone conclusion, ‘Marakkar’ has taken the box office by storm – especially in the Middle-East, Kerala and the remaining South Indian theaters.
Still, getting box office collections over Rs. 80 crores in this (post) “Covid-19 climate” is incredible. The film could easily have crossed Rs. 100 crores had the film been released in 2019, so no matter how you look at it, ‘Kurup’ is a financial success. While the critics have given the film mostly mixed-to-decent reviews, it is the box office numbers that count. However, talking about critics – a majority of them have concluded that the aforementioned ‘Marakkar: Lion of The Arabian Sea’ is not that good.
‘Marakkar’ has been receiving consistent poor-to-below average reviews over the past few days and that seems to be a little worrying. While the film has managed to make over Rs. 20 crores in just a few days, the hype behind the film is slowly dying down. According to critics and film goers, ‘Marakkar’ is a visual and artistic masterpiece, but nothing else about the film is worth watching. The film is filled with unnecessary drama, and while it doesn’t promote senseless nationalism, it is yet another patriotism preacher without any real grit.
If ‘Marakkar’s’ reviews and word-of-mouth continues to deteriorate, there is a good chance that the film will not even make the amount of money Amazon Prime Video offered Antony Perumbavoor for the exclusive streaming rights of the film in the box office – Rs. 90 crores. The film may have managed to make Rs. 100 crores through online bookings thanks to some good marketing, the box office numbers are telling us a different story. If this continues, there is a small chance that ‘Kurup’ might get the resurgence it needs.