Malayalam cinema has been on a strong run lately. Films like 2018, Manjummel Boys, and Thudarum showed that Malayalam stories can travel far and pull big numbers at the box office. Every time a record was made, a new film came along to break it.
Now, Lokah: Chapter One – Chandra has taken things to another level. Directed by Dominic Arun and produced by Dulquer Salmaan, has now crossed ₹300 crore worldwide in just six weeks. Made on a budget of around ₹30 crore, Lokah has gone past Mohanlal’s Empuraan to become the biggest-ever Malayalam film and the first one to hit the ₹300 crore mark.
For context, Pulimurugan became the first Malayalam film to touch ₹100 crore in 2016, and Manjummel Boys went on to reach ₹200 crore in 2024. Now, Lokah has raised the bar with ₹300 crore. Interestingly, all three record-setting films did exceptionally well in Telugu states too.
What makes Lokah’s success even more remarkable is that it’s a female-led film. It now stands among the highest-grossing women-centric films in Indian cinema.
Lokah stars Kalyani Priyadarshan in the lead role, with Naslen and Chandu Salimkumar playing key parts. Lokah is the first part of a planned five-film franchise and also marks the debut of Malayalam cinema’s first female superhero.