2018 Day 1 box office: Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali’s disaster film gets off to this year's best start in Kerala

Director Jude Anthany Joseph’s 2018 got off to a brilliant start at the Kerala box office

Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali and Kunchacko Boban in a poster of 2018

It promises to be raining money for the makers of director Jude Anthany Joseph’s disaster film, 2018, which is based on the Kerala floods of the same year. The multi-starrer, which has Tovino Thomas, Asif Ali, Vineeth Sreenivasan and Kunchacko Boban as part of the cast, got off to this year’s best start for a Malayalam film at the Kerala box office.

The movie, which has already grossed Rs 1.5Cr-Rs 1.6Cr on its opening day, is predicted to quadruple that during the weekend – making it the best opening weekend for a Malayalam movie this year. 2018’s successful run will also end a dry spell at Kerala box office, which has only had two hits this year – Unni Mukundan’s Malikappuram and Romancham that have grossed close to Rs 40 Cr and Rs 60 Cr, respectively.

Also read: 2018 is a journey about unseen, unheard stories and unsung heroes: Jude Anthany Joseph

The response for 2018 will also be heartening for the producers and exhibitors, who have been recently complaining about the quality of Malayalam movies as well as theatres shutting down due to the audience preferring to watch films on OTTs, rather than come to cinema halls.

Also read: Candid Review | 2018: This Kerala story is an epic blockbuster that deserves a wider audience

2018, which had released with minimal promotions, due to the strapped budget of the film as well as the high production value of the movie, will also be releasing in other languages in the coming months. It’s to be noted that the producers of Malikappuram are also the ones that backed 2018 and they have followed the similar successful strategy for the Unni Mukundan-starrer.

Also read: Tovino Thomas on 2018: It’s a reminder of the time that people supported each other, and not about the disaster

The film, which weaves together several incidents that happen across Kerala during the floods, is inspired by true events and tells the story of unsung heroes and the tragedies that unfolded. In a recent interview with OTTplay, Jude said, “I didn’t include the main incidents that were extensively covered by the media. This film is a journey through unheard and unseen stories, unsung heroes. So, the incidents that I picked were those snippets that were relegated to a corner in the newspapers’ inside pages.”

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