Pranav Mathur, Pune
It is not very often that we see a Malayalam movie cross the 100-crore mark at the box office, but that seems to be changing. Two months into 2024, Malayalam cinema has the movie Manjummel Boys that has breached the 100 crore mark at the box office. This was announced by the makers of the film on the 13th day of the movie being in the theatres.
Manjummel Boys, directed by Chidambaram S. Poduval is said to be the fastest Malayalam movie to join the 100 crore club. But what about this movie has struck the heartstrings of the viewers?
The movie was not only widely appreciated in Kerala but also in various southern states of the country, especially Tamil Nadu. One of the biggest reasons for this is the clever use of the melodic elements in the movie. Chidambaram used the soundtrack Kanmani Anbodu Kadhalan from the movie Gunaa which had star actor Kamal Hasan play the lead role. This particular song played the role of defining the narrative of the film which was lauded by the viewers in Tamil Nadu.
The song has an explosive effect on the audience. A lot of movies have used old movies and revamped them into their movies, but Manjummel Boys shows us the perfect way to use an old song in a new movie. Instead of using the song as a depiction of romance (the idea with which it was originally composed) the movie used it as a song that depicts friendship. Because of the inclusion of the song in the movie, it has taken the internet by storm with videos emerging on social media with friends enjoying and dancing along to the song.
The movie also reached big names with Anurag Kashyap, a renowned Indian Filmmaker, singing praises for the movie. He lauded the film’s confidence and impeccable storytelling, which is what sets it apart from a lot of the other movies in the industry. The director also deeply admired the cinematography, post-production, and performance of the cast. He also commented on how Hindi cinema is so far behind in terms of producing quality cinema.