Last Updated: September 11, 2026, 06:56 IST1 / 6 Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has given Nivin Pauly the biggest box-office success of his career.
His previous benchmark, Sarvam Maya, had reportedly collected around ₹131 crore worldwide, meaning Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has more than doubled that figure.
2 / 6 While Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has changed the box-office trajectory of Nivin Pauly, Mamitha Baiju has walked away with a record of her own.
With Lokah now behind it, only Vaazha 2 stands between Bethlehem Kudumba Unit and the Kerala box-office crown.
The achievement is even more striking because Bethlehem Kudumba Unit maintained a remarkably consistent run after its opening week.
Last Updated: September 11, 2026, 06:56 IST
1 / 6 Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has given Nivin Pauly the biggest box-office success of his career. The film has surpassed the lifetime worldwide collections of his previous biggest grosser, Sarvam Maya, and has now crossed the ₹250-crore mark globally. By day 16, the film had grossed ₹251.65 crore worldwide, making it Nivin’s first film to enter this territory. His previous benchmark, Sarvam Maya, had reportedly collected around ₹131 crore worldwide, meaning Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has more than doubled that figure. Nivin himself has described the film as his “biggest hit” to date, crediting director Girish AD and the strong response from family audiences for its success. It has sustained momentum well into its third week rather than relying entirely on an opening-weekend surge. With the worldwide gross now reported at ₹279.50 crore on day 20, the film has firmly established itself as a career-defining commercial success for Nivin.
2 / 6 While Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has changed the box-office trajectory of Nivin Pauly, Mamitha Baiju has walked away with a record of her own. The actress has become the first South Indian actress to feature in three ₹200-crore grossers in a single year. Her 2026 releases — Jana Nayagan, Vishwanath & Sons and Bethlehem Kudumba Unit — have all crossed the ₹200-crore mark worldwide. According to reports, this makes Mamitha only the third Indian actress overall to achieve the feat, after Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt. What makes the achievement particularly significant is the scale of her recent rise: following the popularity of Premalu, Mamitha has now become associated with three films that have delivered major theatrical numbers across different markets. Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has further strengthened that commercial image, with its strong Kerala performance complemented by a ₹123-crore-plus overseas gross by day 19. The record effectively turns 2026 into a landmark year for Mamitha’s box-office profile.
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3 / 6 Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has also made a significant dent in the 2026 Malayalam box-office rankings by overtaking Mohanlal's Drishyam 3. The film crossed Drishyam 3’s reported worldwide lifetime collection of ₹239.83 crore during its third week, subsequently moving to around ₹275 crore and then ₹279.50 crore worldwide. The milestone is significant because Drishyam 3 had been one of the major theatrical performers of the year, and Bethlehem Kudumba Unit managed to overtake it despite being a completely different genre and driven by a comparatively family-oriented romantic-comedy appeal. The film had already been tracking Drishyam 3 closely during its second week, when it needed only around ₹8.58 crore more to overtake its ₹239.83-crore worldwide total. It eventually achieved that milestone and moved into the upper echelons of Malayalam cinema’s box-office chart.
4 / 6 Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has now overtaken Kalyani Priyadarshan starrer Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra at the Kerala box office, becoming the second-highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time in the state. It crossed Lokah's Kerala lifetime collection during its third week, with its Kerala gross reaching around ₹123.35 crore by day 19. Lokah, which had previously held the second position, has consequently slipped to third place. With Lokah now behind it, only Vaazha 2 stands between Bethlehem Kudumba Unit and the Kerala box-office crown. Given its sustained third-week performance, the film is now within striking distance of becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film in Kerala, making the race with Vaazha 2 the next major box-office milestone to watch.
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5 / 6 Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has matched the fastest ₹100-crore milestone in Kerala, reaching the landmark in just 15 days. It has therefore equalled Vaazha 2’s record for the fastest Malayalam film to enter Kerala’s ₹100-crore club. The achievement is even more striking because Bethlehem Kudumba Unit maintained a remarkably consistent run after its opening week. The film’s Kerala gross subsequently climbed to ₹110.25 crore by Day 16 and ₹123.35 crore by Day 19, putting it firmly among the biggest Malayalam performers in the state. The film’s performance also highlights the strength of its family audience, with the movie continuing to attract sizeable crowds deep into its theatrical run. Its third-week numbers have remained unusually healthy, giving it a genuine opportunity to challenge the current Kerala benchmark rather than merely settle for the ₹100-crore milestone.
