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Dubai: Bethlehem Kudumba Unit opened with less than a tenth of Jana Nayagan’s first-day collection. A month later, it’s almost level.
The Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju romantic comedy has now grossed Rs 322.81 crore worldwide, around Dh135 million, according to box office tracker Sacnilk. That leaves it just Rs 1.78 crore, about Dh745,000, behind the reported lifetime worldwide total of Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, at Rs 324.59 crore.
‘This one is yours as much as it is ours’
Nivin, who plays the lead character Justin, thanked audiences for the film’s run.
“Behind every crore is a ticket, a family, a group of friends, someone who chose to spend a few hours with our film. That makes this Rs 300+ crore milestone incredibly special to me. Thank you for watching, laughing, feeling and celebrating with us. And a big thank you to the entire team who made it happen. This one is yours as much as it is ours,” he said.
Already a record-breaker
The film has already made history. On its 24th day in cinemas, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit became the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, overtaking Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra.
It is also the biggest hit of Nivin’s career, making him the only solo actor apart from Mohanlal to have films in both the Rs 200 crore and Rs 300 crore clubs.
How it caught up with Jana Nayagan
The two films took very different routes to almost the same place.
Jana Nayagan opened with Rs 42.70 crore net in India on its first day, around Dh17.9 million. Bethlehem Kudumba Unit started with Rs 4.90 crore, roughly Dh2 million.
In India, Vijay’s film is still comfortably ahead, with a gross of Rs 231.09 crore against Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’s Rs 185.61 crore, a lead of Rs 45.48 crore.
The difference has come from overseas. Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has earned Rs 137.20 crore outside India, about Dh57.4 million, compared with Jana Nayagan’s Rs 93.50 crore. That overseas lead of around Rs 43.70 crore has almost cancelled out the gap at home, leaving the two films nearly neck and neck worldwide.
Much of Malayalam cinema’s overseas audience lives in the Gulf, where Nivin’s recent films have drawn strong crowds.
A slow start, set against the biggest openers
Set beside the biggest South Indian releases of recent years, the film’s opening looks even smaller.
Yash’s Toxic opened this year with Rs 101.10 crore net in India. KGF: Chapter 2 opened with Rs 116 crore in 2022, and Pushpa 2 with Rs 144 crore in 2024. Both of those eventually passed Rs 1,000 crore worldwide. Prabhas’s Salaar opened with Rs 90.70 crore in 2023, and Rajinikanth’s Jailer, released the same year, opened with Rs 48.35 crore before reaching around Rs 604.50 crore worldwide.
Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has done it without a big first day, building instead through weeks of steady business in cinemas.
About the film
Directed by Girish AD, the filmmaker behind Premalu, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit released on 21 August for the Onam festival season. Girish co-wrote the film with Kiran Josey.
It was produced by Fahadh Faasil, Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran under their Bhavana Studios banner, the team behind Premalu and Kumbalangi Nights. It was the studio’s sixth production, and Nivin’s first film with them.
Nivin plays Justin and Mamitha plays Ashley, a young woman who falls for her neighbour, around 12 to 13 years older than her. The film makes their age gap part of the story, with the awkwardness and hesitation it brings, rather than ignoring it.
The cast also includes Sangeeth Prathap, Vinay Forrt, Suresh Krishna and Bindu Panicker.
