Box office collection: Mammootty's horror-thriller 'Bramayugam' on right path
What's the story
Thursday marked the release of Malayalam superstar Mammootty's experimental monochrome horror-thriller Bramayugam.
Directed by Rahul Sadasivan (Red Rain), it is Mammootty's second cinematic outing this year after Yatra 2 (cameo), which knocked on the theaters on February 8.
The film registered a decent opening of Rs. 3.1cr on Thursday and followed it up with a collection of Rs. 2.5cr (early estimates) on Friday.
BO
Looking at the film in numbers
Sacnilk reported that the film witnessed an overall 47.03% Malayalam occupancy on Friday.
The maximum turnout was during the night shows (72.65%), followed by the evening shows (51.70%), and then the afternoon shows (36.83%).
Cities such as Kochi and Kottayam saw an audience turnout of 65.5% and 69.25%, respectively, while in Delhi-NCR, it stood at 51%.
Bramayugam doesn't currently have any major competitors.
Story
The film's storyline and supporting cast
IMDb describes the film's story as, "Thevan, a folk singer of the Paanan caste, has a fateful encounter when escaping slavery, leading to discover an ancient tradition altering his destiny."
Written by TD Ramakrishnan and Sadasivan, it also features Arjun Ashokan, Amalda Liz, Sidharth Bharathan, and Manikandan R Achari.
The film received overwhelmingly positive reviews from both critics and the audiences.
Director's vision
Sadasivan on why he presented the film in B/W
On his decision to present the film in monochrome, Sadasivan, "I conceived this project only in black and white and could not think of Bramayugam in color."
"Right from the start, I would show people the shots in black and white."
"I was sure mounting a movie in black and white with Mammootty in the lead would create intrigue in people," the director added.
Mammootty's opinion
Mammootty had this request for viewers
Meanwhile, speaking at the trailer launch, Mammootty said, "While the trailer may have sparked various ideas, I urge you not to jump to conclusions about the story. I am saying this so that you are not disappointed [that the original narrative is different from your assumptions]."
"Watch the film without [any] preconceived notions and refrain from anticipating the emotions it is going to elicit."