South Cinema In 2024: A Year Of Sleeper Hits - Sookshmadarshini, Amaran, Manjummel Boys, Hanuman

Year Ender 2024: A year in review shows that South cinema benefitted greatly from sleeper hits. While movies that were expected to do well at the box office delivered as promised, some came and conquered like no other. Malayalam cinema witnessed one of its commercially best years in 2024 with the 1st half witnessing some movies that turned out to be game-changers. Some unexpected hits also came from Telugu and Tamil cinema, while Sandalwood underperformed grossly.

Hanuman

Teja Sajja's Hanuman released on Sankrathi and was up against Mahesh Babu's much-awaited Guntur Kaaram. Driven by its VFX and mythological storyline, the movie turned out to be a super hit, even besting Guntur Kaaram. Hanuman emerged as the 4th highest-grossing Tollywood film in 2024 with nearly ₹300 crore worldwide collection, only behind biggies like Pushpa 2, Kalki 2898 AD and Devara. A sequel, titled Jai Hanuman with Rishab Shetty, has been greenlit with a universe of mythological action films featuring Indian cinema's biggest names to follow.

Amaran

Sivakarthikeyan came and conquered with Amaran. Released on Diwali, the biopic on the life and times of Major Mukund Varadarajan, Amaran minted over ₹330 crore at the worldwide box office and catapulted Sivakarthikeyan to the big leagues in Kollywood. The movie is the second-highest Tamil grosser of the year, only behind Thalapathy Vijay's GOAT.

Manjummel Boys

The highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year, Manjummel Boys is possibly there most talked about Indian film of the year. Based on a true story of survival and a rescue mission in the Guna Caves, the movie captured the fancy of the audiences outside Kerala, breaking box office records in Tamil and Telugu as well.  

Premalu

Backed by Fahadh Faasil, rom-com Premalu not only performed commercially well in Kerala but also in the Telugu markets. It made overnight stars out of its leading cast Mamitha Baiju and Naslen Gafoor. A sequel of the Malayalam hit is also in the works, while talks of it also being remade in Hindi are on.

Aavesham

The movie reintroduced Fahadh Faasil and turned out to be a laugh riot for his fans. With ₹154 crore worldwide collections, it remains the third-highest-grossing Mollywood film of the year. It also gained a cult following after many watched it on OTT. It's a must-watch film this year across all Indian languages.

Aranmanai 4

The Tamil horror-comedy came at a time when movie release was affected due to the general elections. Aranmanai 4 remains the fifth highest-grossing Tamil film this year, a feat worth lauding given it features no big names and only banked on its franchise value. Its worldwide collections crossed ₹100 crore.

Maharaja

Tamil crime thriller Maharaja starring Vijay Sethupathi emerged as the most-watched movie on Netflix this year, with close to 20 million views. It grossed over ₹100 crore at the domestic box office and did incredibly well at the Chinese box office after it became the first Indian film to release in the country after the normalisation of ties.

Lubber Pandhu

Based on themes of sports and family, the Tamil film Lubber Pandhu emerged as a sleeper hit this year. Actors Attakathi Dinesh and Harish Kalyan and director Tamizharasan Pachamuthu were lauded for bringing local tales of domestic cricket leagues to the big screens with a heavy dosage of drama and emotions. Made on a modest budget, Lubber Pandhu did very well at the box office and later on OTT.

Aayante Randam Moshanam

Tovino Thomas' ARM has been hailed a path-breaking film in the fantasy-adventure genre in India. It acquires an even bigger fanbase as more people watch it on OTT. ARM proved that Malayalam filmmakers can also deliver spectacle cinema with finesse and cutting-edge action and VFX.

Kishkindha Kaandam

Asif Ali's thriller Kishkindha Kaandam bagged a spot in the list of one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of this year. Even more so, it is being hailed as one of the best slow-burn dramas of recent times. The film is sure to enjoy a cult status as more people watch it on OTT.  

Sookshmadarshini

Fronted by Nazriya Nazim and Basil Joseph, Sookshmadarshini is still running in cinema halls. The movie has reinforced that Malayalam cinema is best when it comes to thrillers. 

Blending fun and mystery in equal measures, it has been hailed as one of the best films of 2024.