Thiruvananthapuram:
Malayalam
film
industry
made
a
turnaround
in
2012
with
an
annual
investment
of
about
Rs
350
crore
and
release
of
128
movies
in
contrast
to
sequential
flops
and
losses
that
crippled
the
industry
in
the
last
few
years.
What
is
more
significant,
according
to
industry
players,
is
this
is
the
first
time
the
industry
crossed
the
triple
century
mark
in
terms
of
annual
investment
after
stagnating
around
Rs
200-250
crore
in
previous
years.
The
release
of
128
movies
in
a
single
year
is
also
a
record
for
Malayalam
cinema,
and
eight
of
them
reaped
handsome
profits
and
40
films
collected
their
investment
back.
This
showing
is
impressive
in
every
aspect
compared
with
release
of
93
films
in
2010
which
further
slid
to
88
in
2011.
Thattathin
Marayathu,
Usthad
Hotel,
Mayamohini,
Ordinary,
Run
Baby
Run,
My
Boss,
and
Mallu
Singh
were
some
movies
which
did
quite
well
at
the
Box
Office
last
year.
More
than
10
dubbed
movies
from
other
languages
were
also
released
across
the
state,
and
most
of
them
wooed
audiences,
industry
sources
said.
Once
rated
highly
for
producing
critically
acclaimed
movies
and
crowd-pulling
commercial
hits
simultaneously,
the
film
industry
faced
troubled
times
in
last
few
years
due
to
a
combination
of
factors,
including
rampant
video
piracy
and
lack
of
good
scripts.
Movies
with
superstars
continuously
flopped
in
theatres
and
films
by
yesteryear
super
directors
also
fared
badly
during
this
period.
When
the
industry
in
neighbouring
Tamil
Nadu
made
several
experiments
in
subject
and
narration,
Mollywood
stuck
to
its
beaten
path
and
larger-than-life
heroes,
distancing
audiences
and
making
them
seek
greener
pastures
in
other
languages.