The Kerala Story 2 Day 10 Report: Entering The Profit Zone Despite Heavy Controversy!
Mumbai, Monday, March 09, 2026. The trade circuits are buzzing today because the second weekend numbers are finally in for Kamakhya Narayan Singh’s latest directorial effort. After ten days of intense theatrical runtime, The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond has officially reached a total India Net collection of ₹32.85 Cr.
With an India Gross of ₹38.73 Cr and a production budget of ₹30 Cr, the film has technically crossed its recovery mark and is now looking at potential profits. The movie earned ₹3.31 Cr on its second Sunday, which is Day 10, showing a slight 11.73% dip from the previous day but maintaining a steady grip on the Hindi heartland.
While it has not replicated the earth-shattering momentum of its predecessor, the sequel has managed to hold its ground despite mixed reviews and pre-release legal hurdles that briefly threatened its arrival.
The Kerala Story 2: Goes BeyondDay 101
The Sequel Syndrome And The Shadow Of 300 Crores
Everyone in the industry knew that matching the ₹300 Cr feat of the first film was going to be an uphill battle. The first part was a cultural phenomenon that benefited from an unprecedented word-of-mouth wave that simply cannot be manufactured twice.
For The Kerala Story 2, the challenge was twofold: surviving the comparison with the original and navigating a box office landscape that is increasingly wary of “agenda-driven” narratives.
Director Kamakhya Narayan Singh took a more aggressive tonal route this time, expanding the scope beyond Kerala to Jodhpur, Kochi, and Gwalior. This expanded narrative helped the film find traction in specific regions like the NCR and Mumbai, but it also made the audience more divided.
The current mood in the cinema halls is one of cautious curiosity. Unlike the first film where the audience was almost singular in its response, the sequel is seeing a fragmented turnout.
In some centers, it is being treated as a must-watch social cautionary tale, while in others, the “propaganda” tag has slowed down the growth. Is the audience getting tired of the same formula, or is the sequel just lacking the emotional nuance that made the first one so gripping?
We saw a massive 326% jump on the first Saturday, which proved the brand value still exists, but the subsequent Monday drop of 41% was a reality check for the producers. The film is neither a runaway blockbuster nor a total disaster; it is a steady earner that has respected its budget.
Region-Wise Occupancy Analysis: Chennai And Bhopal Lead The Way
The real story of Day 10 lies in the occupancy rates across major territories. While Mumbai and NCR provided the bulk of the show counts, it was the smaller or more concentrated regions that delivered the highest occupancy percentages.
On Sunday, March 8, the overall Hindi 2D occupancy stood at 19.79%. However, the data reveals a startling disparity. Chennai recorded a massive 72.3% occupancy from only 11 shows, with evening shows peaking at an incredible 94%. This suggests that where the film has fewer screens, the demand is concentrated and high. In contrast, Mumbai, with 508 shows, managed an overall occupancy of 21.5%, which is decent for a second Sunday but not spectacular.
The Hindi heartland showed mixed interest. Bhopal, which had a high overall occupancy of 34% on Day 1, saw a dip over the week but remained relevant on the second weekend.
In NCR, the occupancy on Day 10 was 14.8% across 450 shows. The afternoon shows generally saw the most movement, particularly in Pune and Bengaluru, where the rates touched 29%. These numbers indicate that the film is primarily being driven by a mature audience that prefers afternoon and evening screenings over late-night shows.
Interestingly, Surat has been one of the weakest performing regions for this film, with occupancy barely crossing 8.8% on Day 10, despite having 258 shows.
Day-Wise Collection Breakdown: The Holi Factor And The Second Weekend
Let’s look at the trajectory of the last ten days to understand how we got to ₹32.85 Cr. The film started slow on Friday, February 27, with just ₹1.1 Cr. The trade was worried, but the Saturday jump to ₹4.69 Cr saved the opening weekend. The first Sunday held steady at ₹4.5 Cr, but then came the inevitable Monday test where it collected ₹2.65 Cr. A major turning point occurred on Day 5 (Tuesday), where collections jumped back up to ₹3.85 Cr, largely thanks to the Holi holiday impact in the North.
The second week started with a decent hold. Friday (Day 8) saw ₹2.65 Cr, and Saturday (Day 9) witnessed a significant jump of 41.51% to reach ₹3.75 Cr. This Saturday surge is what ensured that the film would cross its production budget within its first 10 days. The Sunday collection of ₹3.31 Cr brought the total to its current standing.
When you compare this to Taapsee Pannu’s ‘Assi’ or the Siddhant Chaturvedi starrer ‘Do Deewane Seher Mein’ which were released in a similar window, The Kerala Story 2 is clearly the dominant player in terms of footfalls. However, compared to its predecessor’s first week total of over ₹80 Cr, this is a much more grounded performance.
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The Road Ahead: Recovery Or Growth?
With the ₹30 Cr budget now behind them, every rupee from here on is profit for Vipul Amrutlal Shah and the distributors. The film has the advantage of a relatively clear window until the release of the spy thriller ‘Dhurandhar 2’ on March 19. This gives the film another ten days to maximize its reach. The Telugu version, which released on March 6, has also shown some promise with a 31.44% occupancy on its first day. If the South Indian markets continue to show the kind of interest we saw in Chennai, the worldwide gross could easily cross the ₹50 Cr mark by the end of its theatrical run.
The performances by Ulka Gupta, Aditi Bhatia, and Aishwarya Ojha have been praised for their sincerity, even if the film’s loud background score and repetitive themes have been criticized by reviewers. The film’s reliance on “shock value” and disturbing scenes has worked for its core target audience but has likely limited its crossover appeal to neutral viewers. As of now, the film is a profitable venture, which is a win for the trade in a year that has seen many big-budget failures.
In my view, this is a “Success by Brand” story. If this movie didn’t have the ‘Kerala Story’ tag, it might have struggled to reach ₹15 Crores. The sequel has effectively monetized the curiosity and polarization created by the first part.
While it is good news for the producers that they have recovered their investment in just 10 days, it is a warning for the genre that “more of the same” leads to diminishing returns. The first film was a hurricane; this one is a steady rain. It will end its journey as a “Hit” or “Semi-Hit” depending on the weekday holds, but it won’t be changing the history books like the 2023 original did.
Question For You: Do you think making a sequel to a controversial hit like The Kerala Story was a good creative decision, or was it just a marketing move to capitalize on the name?
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About the Author
Nitesh Mishra
— Business Analyst (Since 2017)
As a Movie buff with years of experience in film blogging, writing and box office analysis, I specialise in delivering accurate box office insights, movie updates OTT deals and Business Insights. [X, Instagram, Reddit, Threds]