Why Malayalam Film Industry has few Sci Fi genre?

As you know we have a few sci-fi genre movies, but why that's the real question. Here are a few of my observations about the above issue.

1. High Production Cost:

Let's point to the elephant in the room, money. after all, producers are looking to make some money out of the movie than to entertain you. Production costs for such movies are too high to make a return.

Let's take a few examples, Nine had a budget of Rs. 6.7 Crore and collected only Rs. 28 Crore whereas  Mahesinta Prathikaram which was made on a budget of Rs. 4.5 Crore collected over Rs. 171 Million. Since entertainers collect more than Sci-Fi producers prefer them more often.

2. Less in number:

There are only a few movies that fit in this genre, maybe the lack of talented directors may be the reason. But the talented ones couldn't convince the producers to invest in such genre. Bharathan Effect could be taken into consideration. Lack of investment in such a plot is visible to such an extent that even critics approve the same.

3. War with Special Effects:

Sci-Fi has enough plot to support special effects that cost more than the risk producers take. Special effects are expensive. They drive up the budget of a movie significantly. Hollywood movies can recoup this cost by distributing worldwide; they usually can count on massive international audiences and thus can justify a very expensive movie. Malayalam industry doesn't have that assurance and producers aren't willing to risk bankruptcy to ensure a movie is made. The best example would be Athishayan.

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4. Audience and their big brain:

So why won't Indian audiences go to see a science fiction movie? Well, if it's a good movie, there's no reason they wouldn't. But the Malayalam film industry works differently than Hollywood. Specifically, high-concept movies generally don't do well in India. Part of this is certainly because studio executives have a tendency to underestimate the intelligence of their audience. They think people won't go to see a high-concept movie, so they take a complex idea and try to dumb it down, and the result is often unwatchable. Iyer the Great would be a great example.

Conclusion:

"But science fiction doesn't need to be high-budget to succeed," you might say, and you're right. But when those who control the Malayalam film industry are convinced that sci-fi movies require expensive special effects and that a high-concept movie is unlikely to do well, it doesn't really matter. At the end of the day, for the Malayalam film industry to start making genuinely good science fiction, whether it's high or low budget, those in charge need to be open to new ideas and fresh perspectives. And so far, that hasn't been the case.