Box Office: Mardaani 3 Takes Decent Opening

Mardaani 3 opens better than its previous installments.

Last week's release Mardaani 3 arrived with a minimal promotion of just 20 days and was relying primarily on the franchise quotient to pull through at theatres. There's nothing wrong with that, as a mid-budget film like this just needs a minimal window to reach out to the audiences.

But what's also required is that there needs to be a major impact created within this short window, so that a larger volume of audiences is aware about the film's arrival.

Surprisingly, YRF kept its promotional plans just about decent and after unveiling a good promo, they allowed audience to discover the film on their own. Since the film was arriving right after the big hit Border 2, a more aggressive approach would have allowed the film to open much bigger.

The Mardaani 3 box office

That's why its opening day of Rs 4 crore (Rs 40 million), which is just little better than how Mardaani (Rs 3.46 crore/Rs 34.6 million) and Mardaani 2 (Rs 3.80 crore/Rs 38 million) seems a bit underwhelming since Mardaani 3 had the potential to take a start of Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore (Rs 60 million to Rs 70 million) at least. After all, Rani Mukerji leads the show all over again and with the franchise value behind the film, it warranted a really solid start.

What would have further helped the film's case was solid growth over the weekend. Had the weekend got into the Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) range, a lifetime of Rs 40 crore to Rs 45 crore (Rs 400 million to Rs 450 million) would have been confirmed. But since the weekend closed at Rs 17 crore* (Rs 170 million*), it would be more in the range of Rs 33 crore to Rs 35 crore (Rs 330 million to Rs 350 million).

The Border 2 box office

Border 2 has now entered the Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) club and that too in just 10 days. The film collected around Rs 245 crore (Rs 2.45 billion) in Week One and then more than Rs 50 crore (Rs 500 million) in the second weekend.

This is a good start to the year and further showcases how Sunny Deol is the ultimate OG superstar, who has seen successes for four decades now.

• Read the review here

What Mardaani 3 reviews say

Like the Rediff review says, Rani Mukerji gets plenty of scope to shine, seething with anger, screaming, radiating fury, and even taking on hand-to-hand combat in a truly boss-lady role.

Unlike its predecessors, the social message in Mardaani 3 feels oddly superficial. The film takes the easy route, sticking to a straightforward hero-versus-villain story and sacrificing nuance for spectacle.

*Estimates.
Note: All collections as per various box office sources.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff