Unni Mukundan has been in the Malayalam film industry for almost fifteen years, but the actor has yet to come out of the shadows to emerge as a consistent box office draw. He has had several hits like Mallu Singh (2012), Vikramadithyan (2014), and KL 10 Patthu (2015), but his career has been characterised by ups and downs in terms of commercial performance.
The actor reached the pinnacle of his career in December 2024 with Marco, a film directed by Haneef Adeni and a spin-off of Nivin Pauly’s Mikhael (2019). It was marketed as “the most violent Indian film” and had a worldwide gross of ₹102.55 crore and an Indian net collection of ₹60.27 crore (Sacnilk Report), thus becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of 2025 as well as all time. The film’s portrayal of raw graphic violence was criticised, but it still managed to cause a stir in the whole country, leaving behind even such big names as Mohanlal’s Barroz – Guardian of Treasures and Varun Dhawan’s Baby John.
Get Set Baby: The Unexpected Flop after Marco’s Knockout
The project, Get Set Baby, directed by Vinay Govind, was Unni Mukundan’s next one, riding on Marco’s success, and the expectations were huge. But this movie, with a cost of ₹ 9.99 crore, was released on 21 February 2025 and failed miserably at the box office.
According to Sacnilk, the film had collected only ₹4.35 crore as its worldwide gross, with an Indian net collection of a mere ₹3.89 crore. The film’s release was during the period of school exams and Ramadan, which harmed the number of moviegoers and made the fail to even achieve its break-even.
The narrative that had supported Unni Mukundan as the next ‘pan-Indian star’ due to Marco‘s success was reversed by the commercial failure of Get Set Baby. His next movie, Mehfil, also did not get much audience and critical attention.
What’s Next for Unni Mukundan?
The actor is now in the process of preparing for his Hindi debut, Maa Vande, a biopic depicting the life of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Besides the recent disappointments in box office returns, Unni Mukundan is still considered a leading actor in Malayalam films and is recognised for his roles across languages in Achayans (2015), Janatha Garage (2016), 12th Man (2022), Bro Daddy (2022), Meppadiyan (2022), Malikappuram (2022), Garudan (2024), and Jai Ganesh (2024).
The path taken by Unni Mukundan from a huge hit like Marco to the unsuccessful Get Set Baby and Mehfil illustrates the unpredictability of the film industry and the difficulties actors go through to keep their commercial success steady.
