The Kerala Story box office week 1 collection: Film crosses ₹81 crore, may rake in lifetime total of ₹200 crore

In a rare occurrence, the weekday collections of The Kerala Story have improved compared to the first weekend. The film went on to collect ₹12.50 crore on Thursday, taking its first week collections to ₹81.36 crore. The film continues to stay strong at the box office, despite not running in theatres in few states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu. Also read: The Kerala Story: ‘I promise those who are silent, will speak tomorrow’ says Manu Rishi Chadha

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh shared the day-wise collections of the film in its first week and predicted an even better run in the second week. He also claimed that the film could easily cross ₹200 crore in India and even reach ₹250 crore.

He tweeted on Friday, “#TheKeralaStory puts up a PHENOMENAL TOTAL in Week 1… Day-wise biz – especially on weekdays – is an EYE-OPENER… Fri 8.03 cr, Sat 11.22 cr, Sun 16.40 cr, Mon 10.07 cr, Tue 11.14 cr, Wed 12 cr, Thu 12.50 cr. Total: ₹ 81.36 cr. #India biz. Nett BOC. BLOCKBUSTER. #Boxoffice.”

He further added, “#TheKeralaStory is sure to collect a much higher number in its Weekend 2 [collected ₹ 35.65 cr in Weekend 1]… Also, the film should comfortably cross ₹ 200 cr in #India, given the trends… Strong possibility of hitting ₹ 250 cr. Growth / Decline on *weekdays* in Week 1… Mon: [growth] 25.40% Tue: [growth] 10.63% Wed: [growth] 7.72% Thu: [growth] 4.17%.”

Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Shah, the film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani and Sonia Balani in lead roles. The controversy around the film only seems to have benefitted its demand among the viewers.

A massive controversy erupted around the film after its trailer claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS. However, in the face of protests, the contentious figure in the trailer was later withdrawn. Its trailer description was later changed to a story of three women from Kerala.

Talking about the figure which caused a disruption in the political scenario of the country, Adah told ANI, “The story is really scary. The fact that people are calling it propaganda or are thinking about numbers only above the missing girls is scarier. Instead, it would have been the opposite that we would have discussed that girls are missing like this and then given a thought about the numbers.”