Mardaani 3 had a fair opening day at the Indian box office, collecting Rs. 3.75 crore nett approx. That’s on par with Rs. 3.75 crore opening day of Mardaani 2 in 2019. Additionally, the film has earned USD 275K (Rs. 2.50 crore) approx overseas on its first day. The worldwide first day will come around Rs. 7 crore.
Adjusted for inflation, the opening day of Mardaani 2 would be around Rs. 5.50 crore nett today. However, considering that the theatrical market, especially for films in this zone, is weaker than it was in 2019, even matching it nominally is a fair result. This could have easily opened to Rs. 1.50-2 crore in today’s market.
The opening is a plus for Rani Mukerji, who has completed 30 years in the industry. She is not only still working as a lead at this stage but commanding some initial value as well, which is genuinely remarkable. This kind of opening could have been tough for most of the younger actresses; for context, Jigra, starring Alia Bhatt, opened to Rs. 4.50 crore.
While there is some franchise value at play here, it is worth noting that in recent times, several franchises with far bigger brand equity have opened lower than their previous films. On top of that, the female-led action genre has historically struggled to find traction at the box office. That makes it all the more commendable that she has headlined and sustained a franchise in this genre and delivered a respectable opening.
The film did best in the Mumbai circuit, followed by Mysore. The Northern circuits have traditionally not done well for the franchise, except Delhi-NCR, which was the case this time as well. West Bengal could have delivered stronger numbers, especially since it was a standout market for Mardaani 2 and is generally a strong territory for Rani Mukerji films.
One thing that has been going wrong with films lately is that the costs have increased a lot. A film that used to cost X a couple of years ago has increased to 2X, some even going 3X. Mardaani 3 has done well in this regard as the film has been made in controlled budget. While it does cost 2x of Mardaani 2, that is still quite manageable if the film gets the reception right, as non-theatrical recoveries are quite good as well.