The Kerala Story box office collection Day 10: Adah Sharma film eyes second biggest hit of the year spot, earns Rs 136 crore

The controversial feature is reported to have had a 54.68 per cent Hindi occupancy in theatres on Sunday. The movie has been in the news for botching up figures of the number of female Muslim converts who were said to be radicalised by fundamentalists. While the makers had earlier reported the figure to be 32,000, amid various online and offline protests, the number was changed from 32,000 to three.

Despite the wave of protests, The Kerala Story is still riding strong at the box office, and has emerged as a legitimate Bollywood hit after the success of Pathaan (Shah Rukh Khan’s comeback vehicle), and the Ranbir Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor romantic comedy Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar.

While The Kerala Story may have garnered big numbers at the box office, it failed to impress critics at large, with The Indian Express’ film critic Shubhra Gupta calling it ‘a poorly made rant’: “The film itself is nothing but a poorly-made, poorly-acted rant which is not interested in interrogating the social complexities of Kerala, an India state proud of its multi-religious, multi-ethnic identity. All it is intent upon is creating the most simplistic, paper-thin characters to tell us that Kerala is in danger because its innocent, naïve Hindu and Christian girls are being swayed by evil Muslim men, and radicalised to the point of no return.”