The year 2025 was a strange and painful one for Malayalam cinema. There were many films. There were many new ideas. There was good content. Films like ‘Eko’ and ‘Lokah’ showed strong storytelling and effort. But when the box office numbers came out, the picture looked very bad.The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce revealed that the industry faced a total loss of Rs 530 crore in 2025. Around 185 new Malayalam films were released in theatres during the year. Along with that, eight old films were re released. Even with so many releases, very few films made money. Most films failed to recover their costs. The numbers showed clearly that good content alone did not save the industry.
What the Film Chamber report revealed
The Film Chamber shared all the details through a social media post. According to the report, out of the 185 new films released, only a handful did well. Just 9 films were super hits. Another 16 films were declared hits. Around ten films managed to recover their investment. These films earned average collections in theatres and also made money from OTT platforms. This means only about 35 films were safe in some way. The remaining films struggled badly. Around 150 films failed at the box office. They could not recover their production costs. The report made it clear that 2025 was a year of losses more than success.
What the official note said
(Picture Courtesy: Facebook)
The Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce explained everything in simple words. In their note, they said, “2025 was a year of major experiments and expectations for Malayalam cinema. Around 185 new films were released in theatres this year. But how many of these films made profits? How many crores did the industry lose? Let us take a look at the Malayalam cinema box office report for 2025.”They further added, “The total investment in new films came to around Rs 860 crore. Based on theatrical revenue, 9 films can be placed in the super hit category and around 16 films in the hit category.”The note also said, “It can be assessed that around 150 films failed in theatres. After excluding films that recovered their investment and those that made profits, 2025 stands as a year in which the Malayalam film industry suffered a loss of Rs 530 crore.” These words shocked many people inside the industry.
Anuraj Manohar speaks out strongly
The situation became more heated after the Producers Association released figures saying that only fifteen films were profitable in 2025. They also said that Narivetta did not make profits in theatres. Director Anuraj Manohar strongly opposed this claim. He said clearly that Narivetta is a profitable film. He also said they are ready to show full account details to prove it. ‘Narivetta’ collected Rs 31.43 crore at the box office. The film was made on a budget of Rs 10 crore. Reacting to the verdict, Anuraj wrote a long emotional Facebook post. He wrote, “Narivetta is a film I directed and released in May this year.” He shared that many big producers rejected the film earlier. “With the belief and love for this film, Indian Cinema Company finally came forward to produce it,” he wrote. He also pointed out that it was the company’s first production.
Anuraj strongly criticised the Producers Association statement. He wrote, “When people loudly announce that all films are total failures, they are holding a knife to the throat of this industry.” He questioned whether such statements were meant to stop new producers from entering cinema. He warned that this could push the industry into the hands of big corporate companies. The director compared it to “tying a dog near a haystack—neither eating nor letting others eat.”
Re releases and hope for 2026
Re released films became a small trend in 2025. Eight old films came back to theatres. But only three of them made any real box office impact. The Film Chamber accepted that even though a few films did well, the overall picture remained negative. Still, many in the industry are hoping 2026 will be better. With lessons learned from heavy losses, Malayalam cinema now looks ahead with caution, hope, and the wish to balance good content with better business planning.
