Malayalam film industry’s highest-grossing flick, Manjummel Boys is a survival thriller. At its core, it is a film on friendship. Inspired by the true story of Subhash, a man from Kerala who accidentally fell into a 900-feet deep pit inside Guna Caves (popularly known as Devil’s Kitchen) in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu who was heroically rescued by his determined friends, has captivated the hearts of the audience. The success of Manjummel Boys has led to a massive increase in tourist footfall to Guna Caves. Here’s more to it.
Malayalam Flick, Majummel Boys Increases Tourist Footfall At Guna Caves
According to a report by The New Indian Express, despite the off-season, Guna Caves has recorded around 40,000 footfalls in a week. Tens of hundreds of visitors are heading to the dangerous caves characterised by deep narrow ravines which have claimed around 12 lives. Visitors can also get glimpses of certain sections of the cave system from a distance. These dangerous caves are highly protected.
Manjummel Boys has once again the piqued interest of people from South India towards Guna Caves in Kodaikanal. M Ajith, a tourist visiting the Tamil Nadu hill station stated to TNIE that he was longing to visit Funa Caves after watching this film. R Senthil, the forest department’s Integrated Development Range (Kodaikanal Division) Officer spoke to TNIE. He stated that the number of tourists visiting Kodaikanal has increased rapidly thanks to the film’s success.
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3 Tourists Caught Trespassing Into Restricted Areas
R Senthil observed that despite being off-season, there has been a significant increase in the number of tourists. He informed that in February 2024, over 1 lakh tourists headed to Kodaikanal and Guna Caves. In fact Manjummel Boys’s success has indirectly increased the revenue of the forest department, locals and the district administration. Such is the power of films! This is similar to the impact of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara’s boost to Spain’s Tourism and the Goa trip aspiration created by the success of Dil Chahta Hai.
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Meanwhile, the sudden surge in tourists at the Guna Cave has also given the forest department a hard time. On Monday, the forest officials arrested three youths for trespassing into the restricted area. Ironically the film created awareness about the dangers involved in trespassing into restricted areas of Guna Cave. Despite that S Vijay (24), P Ranjithkumar(24) and P Bharat(24) from Ranipet walked into the restricted area of Guna Caves.
Meanwhile, do let us know if you’ve watched Manjummel Boys and if Guna Caves is on your wishlist as well.
Cover Image Courtesy: manjummelboysthemovie/ Instagram and Tamil Nadu Tourism
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