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India's Biggest Hit Of 2024
Even as Stree 2 continues to make history at the box office, the Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor starrer has emerged as the highest-grossing Hindi film of the year. However, if there’s one movie it might not surpass, it’s Nag Ashwin’s Kalki 2898 AD, the only Indian film to gross over Rs 1000 crore this year. Yet, neither of these two films holds the title of the most profitable Indian film of the year. That distinction belongs to a modest Rs 3-crore film that has outperformed them both.
Before Malayalam cinema became entangled in a belated wave of the #MeToo movement, it enjoyed a golden run in 2024 with films that were both critically acclaimed and commercially successful. Several movies, including Manjummel Boys and Aavesham, not only impressed fans but also garnered critical praise. Among these is a small coming-of-age romantic drama titled Premalu. Featuring only newcomers, Premalu was made on a budget of just Rs 3 crore and earned Rs 136 crore, delivering an extraordinary profit of 4500%.
Kalki 2898 AD remains the highest-grossing Indian film this year, with a worldwide gross exceeding Rs 1100 crore. However, due to its Rs 600-crore budget, its profit margin is under 100%. Stree 2, with its more modest budget of Rs 60 crore, boasts a higher profit margin of around 850%, thanks to its Rs 570 crore worldwide gross. Still, it doesn’t come close to what Premalu has achieved. The only film that approaches the success of the Malayalam hit is the Telugu superhero flick HanuMan, which earned Rs 350 crore on a Rs 35-crore budget, yielding a profit of around 900%.
Directed by Girish AD, Premalu stars Naslen K. Gafoor and Mamitha Baiju, alongside Sangeeth Prathap, Shyam Mohan, Meenakshi Raveendran, Akhila Bhargavan, Mathew Thomas, and Althaf Salim. The film was released in February to widespread critical acclaim. Premalu was later released in Malayalam, Hindi, and Tamil on Disney+ Hotstar and in Telugu on Aha in April.