From Sholay and Dil Chahta Hai to Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Chhichhore, these are some of the most iconic films that have depicted true bonds of friendship on screen. As we celebrate Friendship Day today on August 4, the first Sunday of August each year, we look at a film that celebrated friendship in its true essence and went on to become a blockbuster.
The film being talked about is the Malayalam-language survival thriller Manjummel Boys. Written and directed by Chidambaram, the film is based on a true story of 11 friends from the titular town in Kerala, who embark on a trip Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, and find themselves in a life-or-death situation when one of them falls into the Guna Caves. This incident happened in 2006 and served as the basis of Manjummel Boys released in February 2024. The role of the eleven friends is played by Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Balu Varghese, Ganapathi S. Poduval, Lal Jr., Deepak Parambol, Abhiram Radhakrishnan, Arun Kurian, Khalid Rahman Shebin Benson, and Vishnu Reghu.
Made in Rs 20 crore, the survival thriller earned huge acclaim from audiences and critics, and went on to become a blockbuster. It collected Rs 141 crore net in India and grossed Rs 240 crore worldwide, which is twelve times its budget. Manjummel Boys is also the only Malayalam movie till date to earn Rs 200 crore and thus, is the highest-grossing film in its language. The second highest-grossing Malayalam film is 2018, which is also a survival thriller and is based on the 2018 Kerala floods. It earned Rs 180 crore gross worldwide.
Manjummel Boys
More than two months after it broke several box office records, Manjummel Boys began streaming on Disney+ Hotstar in May in the original Malayalam language and as well as dubbed versions in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages. The Chidambaram directorial is bankrolled by Soubin Shahir, Babu Shahir and Shawn Antony under their banner Parava Films.
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