Kunchacko Boban Disputes KFPA’s Claims on February Malayalam Film Earnings

The Kerala Film Producers’ Association (KFPA) recently shared a report saying that only one out of 17 Malayalam movies released in February made good money. That movie was called “Officer on Duty,” featuring actor Kunchacko Boban. However, Kunchacko told OnManorama that the KFPA’s numbers were not right or clear.

He disagreed with their claim that “Officer on Duty” cost ₹13 crore to make and only earned ₹11 crore. He said, “The cost to make the film was much higher than ₹13 crore, and the earnings are at least double that amount.” Kunchacko explained that the ₹11 crore figure likely only included what the movie made from Kerala theaters, but the total earnings are around ₹30 crore in Kerala alone.

He also said that the film started to make money after its first weekend. When asked about producers asking actors to lower their pay, Kunchacko said he would act for free if they let him keep the money earned from outside Kerala and on digital platforms like OTT and satellite. He pointed out that producers often ignore these extra earnings when talking about losses.

KFPA’s vice-president, G Suresh Kumar, said last week, “Out of the 17 movies released in February, only ‘Officer on Duty’ was a hit. Two others might not lose money because they can earn through OTT sales.” The KFPA claimed that the total cost of all films released in February was about ₹75.23 crore, but the money made from theaters was only ₹23.55 crore. In January, they reported a loss of ₹110 crore with 28 films released that month.