A tale of hits and misses: How Mollywood fared in first half of 2026

Published 29 July 2026 · india

Mollywood’s first half of 2026 has delivered a mixed bag at the bo office, marked by surprise commercial successes and high-profile disappointments. Of the around

Mollywood’s first half of 2026 has delivered a mixed bag at the bo office, marked by surprise commercial successes and high-profile disappointments. Of the around 80 films that reached the screens between January and the second week of July 2026, only about 10-12% of the movies made a mark at the bo office, while the others failed to click, according to estimates by the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. April and May, however, offered the much-needed lift for the industry that had seen more duds at the bo office over the last two years. As per the estimates of the Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA), the Malayalam film industry had suffered a revenue loss of ₹650 crore to ₹700 crore in 2024. Out of a total of 204 films released during the year, only 26 turned profitable at the bo office. The situation was no better in 2025. Of the 185 movies that hit the screens, around 150 failed to click. Nearly 10 movies were able to recover the investments by combining revenue earned from the cinemas with the returns from the sale of digital rights.

The total investment in the releases was estimated to be about ₹860 crore, and the combined loss around ₹530 crore “The bo office success of movies released during the summer vacation [for educational institutions] in April and May this year (2026) gave a boost to the otherwise bleak mood in the industry,” points out Anil Thomas, president of the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce, the apex body of various film organisations in the State. He was referring to the success run of movies such Vaazha II: Biopic of a Billion Bros, the sequel to Vaazha: Biopic of a Billion Boys, directed by Savin Sa and featuring new faces in lead roles, Midhun Manuel Thomas’s Aadu 3: One Last Ride – Part 1, the third instalment in the popular Aadu series, Drishyam 3, the third part of director Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam franchise, and Mohiniyattam helmed by Krishnadas Murali. Exhibitors said the bo office collections of Arun Anirudhan’s Athiradi, and Chidambaram’s Balan: The Boy helped in easing the overall tight situation witnessed in the first half of 2026.

Some of the big disappointments at the bo office in this period included Mahesh Narayanan’s multi-starrer Patriot, Dijo Jose Antony’s Pallichattambi, and Nissam Basheer’s I, Nobody, they said. “Though there were more duds than hits, the first half ended on an overall positive note, thanks to the occasional hits that emerged as the saving grace,” said Suresh Shenoy, exhibitor and member of the executive committee of the Film Exhibitors’ United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK). “The first half of 2025 was better in terms of bo office response compared to the corresponding period this year in terms of the total number of hits. There were no major hits in this June and July,” he said. The KFPA has flagged the rising budgets amidst the increasing flops as they claimed that the remuneration of lead actors and technicians accounted for about 50% of the total budget of a movie. “Though there were more misses than hits in the first half of 2026, the quality of the critically-acclaimed and successful movies resulted in Malayalam cinema being the talking point in other major industries in the country,” said B.