South Film Analysis: Comedy Genre Strikes Gold At Box Office - 3

"Malayalam films heavily rely on the domestic market, and therefore, usually don't turn in big numbers. Since most of these films are made on a budget of Rs.5 crore to Rs.10 crore, the percentage of films breaking even is high vis-a-vis other industries," Nambiar added.

Other hits of Malayalam include Kammath Kammath, Celluloid and Sound Thoma.

"Mammootty-starrer Kammath Kammath, a medium-budget film collected Rs.10.34 crore while Prithviraj-starrer biographical-drama Celluloid managed to rake in Rs.4.57 crore. Films such as Sound Thoma and Immanuel collected Rs.8 crore and Rs.6.5 crore respectively," he said.

Films such as Mumbai Police, Bharya Athra Pora and Honey Bee were a few other hits.

Some Malayalam duds include Hotel California, 3 Dots and Housefull.

The Kannada film industry, which churned out roughly 160 films this year, produced maximum hits in the action and romance genre.

Kiccha Sudeep-starrer Varadhanayaka and Bachchan emerged as the year's biggest hits, while films such as Lucia, Charminar and Myna enjoyed commercially successful run at the ticket counters.

"Sudeep turned out to be most successful Kannada actor of the year. While Bachchan collected Rs.20 crore on a budget of Rs.10.5 crore, Varadhanayaka minted Rs.13 crore on an investment of a moderate budget," Trinath said.

"Low budget films Charminar and Myna ran for 100 days at the box office. While the former minted Rs.5.7 crore, the latter ended its lifetime run with a collection of Rs.7 crore," he added.

Crowd-funded Kannada indie film Lucia, about lucid dreaming, was made on a budget of a mere Rs.90 lakh. It had a limited release via PVR, and managed to mint a handsome Rs.30 lakh in theatres. "But its satellite rights were bought for about Rs.1 crore," said Trinath.

Other Kannada hits include low-budget Attahasa, which raked in about Rs.5 crore and Upendra-starrer Topiwala, which collected Rs.11 crore on an investment of Rs.7 crore.

All in all, it could have been a better year.

In a nutshell:

- The Tamil film industry had nearly 200 releases this year, producing the maximum number of hit comedies.

- The Telugu film industry produced around 100 films. Big-budget outings fared better.

- Around 175 Malayalam films were released, of which comedies as well as romantic films shone bright.

- Action and romance were the much loved genres in the Kannada film industry, which churned out roughly 160 films in 2013..