Yash Raj Films’ latest production endeavor, Mardaani 3, starring Rani Mukerji in the lead, earned Rs. 50 lakh on its third Monday, a 55% reduction from the previous day and 15% from last Friday. Mardaani 3’s total earnings in the third week have reached Rs. 3.95 crore nett. It is likely to cost between Rs. 5 and 5.50 crore, taking its total to more than Rs. 45 crore.
Mardaani 3 is on track to become the franchise’s highest-grossing film, surpassing Mardaani 2’s lifetime profits of Rs. 46 crore in India. The Rani Mukerji starrer is expected to earn between Rs. 48 crore and Rs. 50 crore nett, which is a good result for a female-led picture in the post-pandemic era, when A-list stars are battling at the box office.
Nonetheless, Mardaani proved to be the only successful female-led franchise in Hindi cinema. One of the issues with films recently has been a significant increase in prices. A film that used to cost x a few years ago now costs twice as much, if not three times more. Mardaani 3 performed well in this regard because the picture was made on a tight budget.
While it was double the cost of Mardaani 2, the picture had strong non-theatrical recoveries, thus overall recovery was not an issue. The theatrical recovery will be reasonable at roughly Rs. 25 crore and will result in a successful business.
