Manjummel Boys Records Rs 200 Crore Globally – How This Survival Thriller Become A Sensation
Manjummel Boys, the survival thriller that is making waves in Indian cinema industry, has become the first Malayalam movie to cross Rs 200 crore in worldwide box office today. This was announced by the makers of the movie on social media. The movie, that was released 26 days ago in February, has already thrashed several records in the Southern state, that is known for making ground breaking cinemas historically. Manjummel Boys, starring a long list of youngsters from the Malayalam industry, interestingly, many of them are mainly seen behind the camera previously, presents the extra ordinary story of a group of friends going for a Kodaikanal (the hill station in Tamil Nadu) tour and then one of them falling into an abyss where several met their death after help couldn”t reach them in the past. Ultimately, with persistence, perseverance and most of all the urge to rescue their friend, the Manjummel Boys manages to help their friend back to the civilisation.
There are several factors that helped the movie directed by Chidambaram become one of the top grossers and influential movies in the recent Indian cultural history.
The Manjummel Boys story
As Kuttan (Soubin Shahir), Subhash (Sreenath Bhasi), Sixon (Balu Varghese), Kannan (Ganapathi S. Poduval), Siju (Lal Jr.), Sudhi (Deepak Parambol), Anil (Abhiram Radhakrishnan), Sujith (Arun Kurian), Abhilash (Chandu Salimkumar), and Prasad (Khalid Rahman) left for Kodaikanal in 2006, when the basic mode communication was analogue mobiles and the actual camera was not from your mobile phones, they wouldn’t have imagined that their herculean efforts to save their friend from a hole in Devil’s Kitchen aka Guna Caves will become history, both on real and reel lives.
The story, though has similarities with one of old Malaylam movies ‘Malootty’ directed by Bharathan with the cast of Jayaram, Urvashi, Baby Shamli, Devan, Nedumuni Venu and Innocent, this was different in many ways. There was also a hope for both the audience and the characters about getting the girl back from the drill hole in the 1990 movie, here, you keep hearing from the police officers that, “a central minister’s son fell into this and the whole system couldn’t save him”. But, Subhash, who fell into the hole rescued in the story. If you were present in the theatres the exact moment he comes to the ground from the hole carried by Kuttan who took the courage to go down to the abyss, you will feel the effect of the movie and the excellent movie making: the whole theatre is applauding and many were seen standing up.
The story is effective and making is much more effective. They used all the ingredients to take the viewer along with each character from the build up in their village near Kalamassery in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. The build up to the main thread was also key: a wedding function, an instant tug of war contest, many conversations leading to the planning for a tour (as many teenager-young groups do), then the journey and the photo sessions. Then happens the fall.
The Kamal Haasan connection
Before Manjummel Boys, there were several movies which were shot in the Guna caves. One such movie was Gunaa, a Kamal Haasan classic released in 1991. Apart from the Universal Star, the Tamil-language psychological romantic drama directed by Santhana Bharathi, also had Rekha and Roshini. There were shots in the movie those were shot in the Guna Caves of Kodaikanal. As Manjummel Boys was getting ready to release, an ultimate connection with the Kamal classic was made. This happened when the Manjummel Boys trailer was released.
The trailer has, in two places, that particular eco line from Gunaa’s famous song “Kanmani Anbodu Kadhalan“, a timeless melody that captivates listeners with its unparalleled aesthetic beauty: “Manithar unarndukolla ithu manitha kathal alla… athayum thandi punithamanathu (This is not a human love that mere mortals can understand …It is much beyond… real divine).
Then, as the movie was released, the magical song, composed by the musical maestro Ilaiyaraaja, that seamlessly blends traditional South Indian Carnatic elements with contemporary instrumentation with the poetic lyrics, penned by Vaali, came back to life again. The song was being played everywhere. Thousands of Instagram reels were being made with the song that expresses profound love and longing, resonating deeply with audiences in ethereal vocals of S Janaki and Kamal himself.
The song and the references of Gunaa are there in many places in the movie. Along with this, the crew of Manjummel Boys was seen interacting with Kamal Haasan after the movie was released. That also went viral.
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One of the records this movie broke is: highest grossing Malayalam movie in Tamil Nadu. The movie has raked in more than Rs 50 crores in last four weeks.
The visuals
It was surprising for many that the cave they saw in the film was actually a set constructed by production designer Ajayan Chalissery in a factory in Perumbavoor of Ernakulam district. Then there is the enchanting cinematography by Shyju Khalid. He was able to get majestic and picturesque scenes from Kodaikanal and Kerala (as the movie goes to flash back) with perfection.
The Malayalam trend
Manjummel Boys is not the first movie to get noticed by many outside Kerala in the recent times. As this Chidambaram movie was filling the coffers from box office, two other movies were also making a lot of money in Kerala and outside from theatres – one is Premalu, a rom-com and another is Mammootty’s Bramayugam, a horror-drama made in monochrome based on local folklores. The industry is now known for substance and variety.
Highest world wide grosser 🔥
Thank you all 🤍#ManjummelBoys#ParavaFilms #Chidambaram #BabuShahir #SoubinShahir #ShawnAntony@GokulamGopalan @GokulamMovies#SushinShyam #ShyjuKhalid#VCPraveen #BaijuGopalan @srkrishnamoorty@DreamBig_film_s @PharsFilm@thinkmusicindia pic.twitter.com/wLurT0pdHE— SreeGokulamMovies (@GokulamMovies) March 19, 2024
