Dhoomam: Box office day 1, Twitter reactions, and Hombale Film's path-breaking strategy for Malayalam debut

Fahadh Faasil's latest action thriller Dhoomam hit the big screens today. Bankrolled by Hombale Films and helmed by Pawan Kumar, the film released on around 800 screens in Malayalam and Kannada. Scroll ahead to know Dhoomam box office day 1 early estimates.

Hyderabad: Hombale Films forayed into the Malayalam film industry with Fahadh Faasil starrer Dhoomam which released across 300-plus screens in Kerala today. The production house behind the KGF franchise and Kantara chalked out a subdued promotional plan for the film which is likely to be paid off if the opening day numbers of the film are anything to go by.

• Dhoomam box office day 1 (early estimates):

Hombale Films' debut Malayalam production Dhoomam hit 700 screens in India and 100 screens overseas today. The Malayalam version of the film has minted over a crore in Kerala, shared industry tracker Ormax Media. The film opened with 11.63% occupancy for morning shows in Kerala which is likely to witness an upward trend as word of mouth is strong for the suspense thriller. According to early estimates, Dhoomam's day 1 gross box office in Kerala is around Rs 1.8 crore.

• Here's how tweeple are reacting to Fahadh Faasil's Dhoomam:

Going by buzz on Twitter around Dhoomam on release day, Fahadh is being lauded for commanding the screen with his craft while cine-goers seemingly expected better from National Award-winning actor Aparna Balamurali. Twitterarti is divided over Dhoomam as a section of users is floored by Pawan's vision while others censured the film on micro-blogging site. The well-intentioned film seemingly worked in bits as many have heaped praise on makers for putting together an engaging thriller with an awareness note. The messaging part, however, has not been received well by all as netizens are accusing the makers of stretching it too far.

Scroll through a few tweets here to gauge notion around the film:

• Hombale Films' path-breaking approach for Dhoomam:

When it comes to promotions, Hombale Films seemingly took the road less traveled for Dhoomam. Right from the word go, the makers apparently believed in the script and carried out a low-key promotional plan which was predominantly executed through social media. Promotional assets kept the buzz alive around the film at regular intervals. But the production house which extensively promoted films like KGF 2 and Kantara (post-release) on national platforms, significantly down-sized promotional budget for the film. Dhoomam's leading man Fahadh too endorses the idea of word of mouth instead of going gaga over the film ahead of release, hence, no wonder the makers resorted to old-school promotional strategy for their latest release.

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Fahadh and Aparna aside, Dhoomam features an ensemble cast, including Roshan Mathew, Achyut Kumar, Anu Mohan, Vineeth, Joy Mathew, Radhakrishnan, and Nandhu. The seed of Dhoomam stayed with Pawan Kumar for over a decade and he kept on nurturing the idea until he felt that everything has fallen into place as per his vision of the film. While Malayalam and Kannada versions have hit theaters, Dhoomam is likely to release in Tamil, Telugu, and Hindi soon.