Despite completing a month in theatres and becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time, director Girish AD’s Bethlehem Kudumba Unit, starring Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju, shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it is still minting more than Rs 1 crore even on weekdays.

The romantic comedy is now eyeing surpassing the lifetime theatrical collection of director H Vinoth’s Jana Nayagan, which marked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay’s final film as an actor.

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Fahadh Faasil on Bethlehem Kudumba Unit’s historic success

Meanwhile, actor Fahadh Faasil, who co-produced Bethlehem Kudumba Unit with Dileesh Pothan and Syam Pushkaran under their Bhavana Studios banner, reacted to the movie’s blockbuster success. Weighing in on what drove the romantic comedy’s triumph, he told Variety India, “I believe good and fresh content will always work.”

Fahadh Faasil continued, “All credit goes to the entire team, especially director Girish AD and Nivin Pauly. What a wonderful, honest script — the age-gap romance, the packaging, the humour… everything landed perfectly. And we got the perfect release date during the Onam holidays.”

“As a producer, I’m glad to see that Bethlehem Kudumba Unit worked big-time with audiences and that it is our biggest hit so far. At Bhavana Studios, we believe in choosing meaningful stories, supporting fresh ideas and giving the product the correct platform,” he added.

Bethlehem Kudumba Unit box office collection

The Nivin Pauly-starrer has thus far grossed Rs 321.42 crore globally, just behind Jana Nayagan’s Rs 324.59 crore, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. At this rate, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit will surpass Jana Nayagan by mid-week.

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On Sunday, September 20, the romantic comedy recorded an India nett collection of Rs 2.65 crore. While its original Malayalam version earned Rs 2.25 crore, the Telugu and Tamil editions made Rs 21 lakh and Rs 19 lakh, respectively, taking its total domestic earnings to Rs 157.78 crore.

Despite it being its 31st day in theatres, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit saw impressive footfall and registered an overall occupancy of 54.39 per cent in the Malayalam market. While the morning shows opened at 32.58 per cent occupancy, the rate improved significantly as the day progressed, reaching 59.58 per cent in the afternoon and 63.17 per cent in the evening, before dipping to 50 per cent during the night screenings.

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Also starring Sangeeth Prathap, Suresh Krishna, Vinay Forrt, Roshan Shanavas, and Shyam Mohan in key roles, Bethlehem Kudumba Unit is jointly penned by Girish AD and Kiran Josey. It features music by Vishnu Vijay, cinematography by Ajmal Sabu, and editing by Akash Joseph Varghese.