After a steady run at the box office in its first week, ‘The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond’ managed to maintain its grip over the ticket windows on Day 2.The film had a subdued start when it opened in theatres, mainly due to confusion surrounding its release after petitioners took the legal route to block its release, taking objection to its content. However, once the legal hurdles were cleared and screenings proceeded, the film gradually picked up momentum at the box office over its debut weekend. According to Sacnilk, the film earned an early estimate of around Rs 2.5 crore on its second Friday, Day 8. These figures were in line with the film’s first Monday collections, when it also recorded an estimated Rs 2.5 crore. Over the course of the working week, the film maintained a relatively steady performance with only minimal drops in daily earnings.By the end of its first week, the film’s domestic net collections had crossed the Rs 20 crore mark, earning an estimated Rs 22.9 crore. With the Day 8 collections added, the film’s India net total is estimated to be around Rs 25.4 crore. Meanwhile, its gross collections have now reportedly crossed the Rs 30 crore milestone.Despite the steady performance, the box office collection of the sequel remain significantly lower than that of the 2023 original, ‘The Kerala Story’. In its first week, the Hindi version of the original film was on its way to the Rs 100 crore mark, earning an estimated Rs 81.14 crore. It earned additional revenue from its Telugu-dubbed release, which set it on its course to hit a lifetime India net collection of Rs 241.74 crore. With an additional Rs 15 crore from overseas markets, the film’s worldwide gross total hit an estimated Rs 302 crore.Meanwhile, the sequel continues to attract controversy. The film was back int he headlines on Friday when Kerala’s Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan criticised the film’s performance and narrative, saying, “While the good news is that ‘Kerala Story’ seems to be empty, and no one is watching it. It also shows that there are people, a majority of them, who haven’t understood what Kerala is and its traditions and culture.”He further alleged that films and media are increasingly being “weaponised”.On the legal front, the Kerala High Court on Friday, declined to entertain a PIL seeking to change the title of the film. A bench comprising Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syam Kumar V M noted that related petitions concerning the film were already pending before other benches and said it would not be appropriate to take up the matter at this stage, as reported by PTI.
