Malayalam superstar Mohanlal was having a dream run at the box office in 2025 with three consecutive hits. But his latest release Vrusshabha has recorded the most disastrous opening of his career, failing to even touch the Rs 1 crore mark. This is shocking news for fans who were expecting another blockbuster from their favorite star.
Vrusshabha released on December 25, 2025, in multiple languages as a pan Indian project. The film is directed by Kannada filmmaker Nanda Kishore and stars Mohanlal in a double role in this reincarnation tale. Despite the big scale marketing and multi language release, the film crashed at the box office with just Rs 61 lakh net India collections and Rs 70 lakh worldwide collections on day 1.
The Shocking Day 1 Numbers
The opening day collections of Vrusshabha are heartbreaking for Mohanlal fans. The Malayalam version collected just Rs 0.46 crore, while the Telugu version managed only Rs 0.13 crore. The Hindi dubbed version registered a meagre Rs 0.02 crore, showing that the film failed to connect with audiences across India.
This marks the lowest opening for a Mohanlal film in recent times. For a superstar of his stature, these numbers are very disappointing. The film was postponed twice before finally releasing on Christmas, but the delay could not help the project find its footing.
Mohanlal’s Three Hits Of 2025
The failure of Vrusshabha is even more shocking when you look at Mohanlal’s terrific box office run earlier this year. His first 2025 release L2 Empuraan opened with a massive Rs 18.6 crore in March, making it the best opening for a Malayalam film this year. The sequel to Lucifer went on to collect Rs 266.81 crore worldwide.
His second release Thudarum opened at Rs 5.24 crore in April and collected Rs 235.38 crore worldwide. The third film Hridayapoorvam opened with Rs 3.25 crore in August and made Rs 76.26 crore worldwide. All three were solid hits, which makes the Vrusshabha disaster even more surprising.
Netizens Slam The Film With Negative Reviews
Social media has not been kind to Vrusshabha. Fans on X (formerly Twitter) are calling it “The Worst One Ever in Lalettan’s Career” and posting “Didn’t expect this from Mohanlal.” The negative reviews started pouring in from the very first show, with audiences disappointed by the poor making quality and weak performances.
Reddit forums are especially critical of the bad AI and VFX work in the film. One user compared the swimming scene to “old Super Mario under water levels” while another wrote “Half of it is AI and bad AI at that.” The film also has a title card introducing Mohanlal as “God of Acting” which has not gone down well with viewers who feel the film does not deserve such grand claims.
Young Kannada actor Samarjit Lankesh, who plays Mohanlal’s son in the movie, is also being trolled brutally. Many fans are upset that the film was probably made to launch the young actor rather than being a proper Mohanlal vehicle.
The December Curse Continues
Very interestingly, December seems to be an unlucky month for Mohanlal releases. His previous December 25 release Barroz in 2024 was also a disaster despite being his directorial debut. The 2021 film Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea released on December 2 and disappointed despite having a big star cast and veteran director Priyadarshan. The 2018 movie Odiyan was another December release that could not live up to the hype.
The only exception was Neru, a courtroom drama that released in December 2023 and became a hit. But Vrusshabha has now added itself to the list of December disappointments for the Malayalam superstar.
About Vrusshabha
Vrusshabha is a reincarnation fantasy film directed by Kannada filmmaker Nanda Kishore. The movie stars Mohanlal in a double role along with Samarjit Lankesh, Nayan Sarika, Ragini Dwivedi, Ajay and Neha Saxena. The film was marketed as a pan Indian project and released in Malayalam, Telugu, and Hindi on December 25, 2025. An OTT partner for the film is yet to be announced.
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