1 Year Of Mohanlal's Pulimurugan: Check out all-India records set by Malayalam cinema's first Rs 100 crore blockbuster
Malayalam superstar Mohanlal swept the Kerala Box Office off its feet with Vysakh's 2016 film Pulimurugan, an action entertainer that chronicled the life of a wild hunter named Murugan. The film, which turned out first and only Rs. 100 crore blockbuster of Malayalam cinema, has completed its one-year anniversary on Saturday. Produced by Tomichan Mulakupadam under Mulakuppadam Films and written by Udayakrishna, Pulimurugan was released on October 7 2016 as Dusshera release.
A whole 365 days after it first hit the screens, here are the all-India records set by Malayalam cinema's first Rs. 150 crore grosser:
1) Upon it's release, Pulimurugan was the biggest Indian release ever at the UAE Box Office. Upon its UAE release. The film was released on 3rd November 2016 in a record number of 450 screens across the cinemas of UAE. The Mohanlal starrer also broke the screen count record of Baahubali: The Beginning, Kabali and Sultan as well.
2) With Pulimurugan, Mohanlal has equalled Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar's record to deliver two successive Rs 100 crore blockbusters in quick succession. Interestingly, the 5-time National award winner recorded back-to-back Rs 100 hits (Janatha Garage, Pulimurugan) within a span of 67-theatrical days while the Bollywood Khiladi took the same number of days to record two Rs 100 crore hits (Housefull 2, Rowdy Rathore) in the year 2012.
3) Mohanlal is the first Indian actor to deliver 5 straight blockbusters in a span of 5 months and Pulimurugan and its Telugu dubbed version are the two blockbusters among those five films. Pulimurugan also won him his fifth national award to become the top Indian actor with maximum national film awards. The film also bagged first national award for action director Peter Hein.
4) Pulimurugan is the third highest running Indian film at the UAE Box Office. The Mohanlal blockbuster unseats the 75 days record by Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan to do so. Pulimurugan had an amazing 98 days theatrical run to become the third highest running film at the UAE Box Office. The top two slots were occupied by Mohanlal's 2013 blockbuster Drishyam (125 days) followed by the 1996 Hollywood classic Titanic (110 days).
5) After entertaining the audience in 2D and 3D versions, Pulimurugan emerged as India's first film to be released in 6D. The plot of the film was condensed into a 10-minute film and the premiere was screened in the 6D format recently. The premiere was held at a theater in Cochin, which gave a new experience to the audience.
Apart from these all India records, Pulimurugan has entered the Guiness World Records for the 3D movie screening for the largest number of audiences. The 3D screening of the film was held at Adlux convention centre in Angamaly, Kerala amidst the presence of nearly 12,000 audience. The previous record was held by Hollywood film Men In Black, with 7000 audience in Germany. The Mohanlal starrer was also the highest grossing South Indian film at the UAE Box Office till the release of Baahubali 2. Even at the Mumbai Box Office, Pulimurugan ran over 75 theatrical days.
At the end of its theatrical run (202 days), Pulimurugan's lifetime collections stands at Rs. 152 crore. Produced by a budget of Rs.18 crore, Pulimurugan also starred Telugu actor Jagapati Babu, Bengali actress Kamalini Mukherjee, Vinu Mohan and Bala.
First published: 7 October 2017, 17:10 IST