New Delhi, May 8 -- Malayalam movies have had a smashing year so far as Hindi and increasingly Tamil and Telugu films see big-star productions falter at the box office and Marathi and Bengali cinema grapple with the lack of innovation and discovery.

The Kerala film industry has notched up not just a big hit like Mohanlal'sL2: Empuraan but also a string of smaller successes such asThudarum andRekhachithram when the theatrical business in most other parts of the country is going slow.

Experts attributed this to a robust movie-going culture in Kerala, where cinema theatres are well-maintained, flexibly priced and easily accessible and there is no government interference on the number of shows per day.

"One of the key reasons behind the (M...