Monster: Mohanlal, Vysakh’s Pulimurugan halted Baahubali’s reign in Kerala, can they do it to Kantara too?

Superstar Mohanlal and director Vysakh’s Pulimurugan was indeed a beast slayer at the box office! The movie set records after it was released and became the first ever Malayalam film to cross Rs 100 crores. In fact, such was the success of the film that it overtook Baahubali’s Kerala gross and also set a record that was unsurpassed by Baahubali 2.

Why this was an important feat was because Baahubali 2: The Conclusion had led the box office in all other States except Kerala, where Mohanlal’s Pulimurugan and later Lucifer reigned supreme. While those records have been rewritten with films such as RRR and KGF: Chapter 2, another formidable foe, in the form of Rishab Shetty’s Kantara emerges, as the actor-director’s upcoming film Monster is gearing up for release.

Monster, which is set to hit theatres on October 21, will have a wider release as compared to Kantaara, the Malayalam version of Rishab’s blockbuster that is already on its way to crossing Rs 150 crore at the box office. Kantara has already become the sixth-highest grossing Kannada film and has been performing well in other States where it has been released.

Would this be a cause for concern for the makers of Mohanlal’s Monster? The Vysakh directorial, which is a thriller, has had minimal hype as compared to previous Mohanlal movies. A source tells us that this is deliberate as the makers don’t want to increase the expectations of the fans or audience and meet with the same fate as the actor’s previous two theatrical releases – Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham and Aarattu.

That said, the fan shows for the movie have already been sold out and if the film does work, it can lead to an increase in the number of shows. Even though Kantara, which is distributed by Prithviraj Productions, will get a decent number of theatres, trade experts predict that the movie won’t make as much an impact in the Kerala box office as it did in other centres. This is also because Nivin Pauly’s Padavettu is also releasing during Diwali along with Karthi’s Sardar. However, Kantara has already managed to defy all box office predictions and it will be exciting to see what the film can accomplish in Kerala.