The Kerala Story is continuing its strong run at the box office. The controversial film saw an increase in its collections for the third consecutive day over the week. With this, the Sudipto Sen film has taken its overall worldwide collections to Rs 96 crore over the first week. As per trade experts, the film will cross the 100-crore barrier in the first half of Friday and is expected to do well over the second weekend.
The Kerala Story earned Rs 12.50 crore on Thursday, a 4% increase over its Rs 12 crore earnings on Wednesday. As per Sacnilk, the film’s net domestic collections after the first seven days stand at a very healthy Rs 81.36 crore now. And while the overseas collections are negligible, the film has now earned Rs 96 crore gross worldwide.
What is interesting is that the film is still registering healthy occupancy of 30-40% in most of its shows over the weekend. In the absence of any huge release this weekend, The Kerala Story is almost certain to increase its earnings over the second weekend and maybe look at the Rs 200-crore mark as well. For a film with a reported budget of Rs 40 crore, that would be a huge achievement.
The day-by-day growth in the collections of The Kerala Story over weekdays is reminiscent of how The Kashmir Files, another controversial and polarising film, performed at the box office last year. The Kerala Story still has a long way to go before it reaches the extraordinary numbers done by The Kashmir Files, which had a global gross of Rs 341 crore. However, it is on course to achieve something similar.
The Kerala Story, starring Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani, has been mored in controversies over its claims that 32,000 Indian women were forcibly converted in recent years. The film has been called a propaganda piece by opposition leaders and faced a ban in West Bengal. In contrast, it has been endorsed by PM Modi and declared tax free in UP and MP.
