Not a single Malayalam film has ever collected 100 crores; film production has become risky business, says Suresh Kumar

Renowned Malayalam film producer Suresh Kumar said that film production has become a risky business nowadays. He was speaking on the topic of 'Malayalam Cinema in the 80s' at the Smriti Sandhya organized as part of the Kerala Assembly International Book Festival. Director Kamal and actor Maniyanpilla Raju also attended the event.

"I started making movies in the 1980s. During that time, the budget of films was very small so that producers were able to bear the losses if their films flopped at the box office. That situation has changed now. Now, when a film becomes a success, stars will increase their salaries by several crores. Nowadays, we hear about 100 crore clubs, 500 crore clubs etc. However, not even one Malayalam film has collected Rs 100 crores so far. What they say collected is in terms of gross collection," Suresh Kumar said,

"Earlier, the film industry used to move forward from the revenue received only from theatres. With the advent of OTT, many leading actors started producing their own films. If the content of the film is good, people will flock to the theatres in large numbers," he said.

Suresh Kumar also responded to the ongoing controversies related to film reviews. "I am not completely against film criticism. However, I do have objections to derogatory responses against individuals in the name of film reviews. There have been instances where criticism has gone beyond the limit and turned into a personal attack," he added.