Twenty-one days in, and Bethlehem Kudumba Unit still refuses to slow down.

The Nivin Pauly and Mamitha Baiju rom-com pulled in Rs 2.3 crore on its third Thursday, taking the week three total to Rs 33.3 crore, according to Koimoi's box office tracking. That's a drop of 33.2% from week two's Rs 49.85 crore, which counts as a strong hold for a film entering its fourth weekend. Across the full run, the picture has now dropped less than 35% week-on-week, a number distributors will be pointing to when they talk about legs.

The bigger story, though, is where the film now sits on Mollywood's all-time list. With Rs 135.45 crore net (Rs 159.83 crore gross), Bethlehem Kudumba Unit has gone past Vaazha 2's Rs 129.42 crore lifetime total to become the third highest-grossing Malayalam film ever released in India.

The chase for second place

It won't stop there. Trade estimates suggest the film is closing in on Manjummel Boys, which sits at Rs 142.08 crore, and could overtake it during the fourth weekend itself. Even Lokah Chapter 1 – Chandra's Rs 157.01 crore, currently the benchmark, is described as within reach if the film keeps its current pace through the coming weekend.

For a rom-com, that's an unusual place to be. Malayalam cinema's highest grossers have typically skewed toward action, thriller or ensemble adventure, think Manjummel Boys or Lokah. A love story elbowing into that company, and doing it on hold percentages rather than a front-loaded opening weekend, says something about word of mouth carrying a film past its natural shelf life.

Online chatter around the film has been loud through September, with fans describing it as among the best-selling Malayalam titles currently running on ticketing platforms, though that's a different measure from the net collection figures being used to rank it against past hits. Either way, the noise and the numbers are pointing the same direction.

The film is also expected to cross Rs 150 crore net before its run ends, a milestone that would put real distance between it and Vaazha 2 and set up a genuine race with Manjummel Boys over the next few days. Whether it can also close the gap on Lokah Chapter 1 – Chandra depends on how the fourth weekend holds, particularly in the overseas and multiplex circuits where the film has reportedly found an audience beyond its core Kerala base.

For now, Mollywood has a new number three. The question through the weekend is whether it stays there or keeps climbing.