#OnThisDay in 2016, Mohanlal’s ‘Pulimurugan’ rewrote the rules of Kerala Box Office – list of all its stunning records
Sandy Verma October 18, 2025 05:24 PM

On 5th October 2025, Kerala box office witnessed a new successor to the throne as Kalyani Priyadarshan’s Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra displaced Thudarum to become the top grossing film in Kerala, thereby adding one more feather to its unreal box office run. Today (October 7) might be the day it touches the worldwide Rs 300 crore gross, a first for any Malayalam film and fittingly so, because this date has a history.

Nine years ago, on October 7, Mohanlal’s Pulimurugan released in theatres and rewrote the rules of Kerala box office. The mass entertainer had an euphoric run, destroying all Mollywood records durings its theatrical run. It not only set new benchmarks among Malayalam films but also made a mark amongst the biggest South Indian blockbusters at the time.

On its ninth anniversary, let us have a look at the major Mollywood records created by Pulimurugan

Biggest opening day in Kerala

Pulimurugan grossed approximately Rs 3.89 crore on its release day, making it the biggest Mollywood opener in Kerala. Overall, it was the second-highest opener at the time behind Rajinikanth’s Kabali which grossed Rs 4.27 crore in the same year.

Biggest opening weekend in Kerala

The Mohanlal-starrer became the first film in Kerala to zoom past the Rs 10 crore gross in three days, registering collections of Rs 3.84 crore and Rs 3.35 crore on its second and third days respectively. The weekend collection came to Rs 11.08 crore – PHENOMENAL!

Biggest first week in Kerala

Pulimurugan had an earth-shattering opening week, grossing Rs 21.94 crore across its first seven days, creating a new benchmark. It became the fastest Rs 20 crore in the state, a figure that used to be the lifetime figure of most films in the state till then.

Biggest second week in Kerala

The mass entertainer, directed by Vysakh, was super-strong in its second week and grossed Rs 12.25, which meant a fall of just 40 percent from its first week. To make it simpler, most films didn’t have a first week as big as Polymrugen’s second week.

Biggest grosser in Kerala – Mohanlal beats Mohanlal

Drishyamwhich set the record for top grosser in Kerala with Rs 41.50 crore, saw its collections being broken in just 17 days by Pulimurugan which then went on to double that gross at the Kerala box office. Pulimurugan ended with mind-blowing figures of Rs 85.10 crore

First Rs 100 crore grosser in India

Those were the days when a Malayalam film could only dream of Rs 100 crore even through worldwide gross and here was Pulimurugan which achieved the figure from India alone. The Malayalam version did approximately Rs 80 crore gross and dubbed versions did superbly by bringing in another Rs 20 crore. The Telugu version was the most prolific of the dubbed versions, grossing more than Rs 10 crore.

Biggest worldwide grosser

Apart from grossing Rs 100 crore in India, it also did excellent business overseas by grossing Rs 39.80 crore, taking its worldwide gross to an unprecedented figure of Rs 139.80 crore. The lead over the second-highest worldwide grosser Premam (Rs 73.50 crore), was unreal.

First film to make it to top-10 all-time South Indian worldwide grossers

The worldwide gross of Rs 139.80 crore for Pulimurugan was bigger than many major South Indian films at the time. After it’s theatrical run, it was the seventh biggest South Indian worldwide grosser of all time.

Top-10 South Indian worldwide grossers after Polymrugen’s run

Bahubali

Endhiran

Kabali

I

slaughtered

Sivaji

Srimanthudu

Pulimurugan

Attarintiki Daredi

Linga

****** [Data is compiled from independent sources linked to distributors and theater owners. This website doesn’t take responsibility for the authenticity of these numbers]

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