Mardaani 3 box office collection Day 1: Rani Mukerji’s cop drama lags behind Yami Gautam’s Article 370, earns Rs 3.8 cr

Released across approximately 2,345 shows nationwide, the film recorded an overall occupancy of 18.01% on day one. Morning shows opened at a low 8.97% occupancy, which improved to 14.78% in the afternoon. The evening shows saw a slight rise to 17.13%, before the film closed the day on a stronger note with 31.14% occupancy during night shows. Region-wise, Delhi-NCR led with the highest number of shows at 526, registering an occupancy of 18.75%. Mumbai followed with 381 shows and performed better, recording an occupancy of 26.75%.

It must be noted that despite being backed by Yash Raj Films, Mardaani 3 has had a relatively smaller release. The film continues to compete for shows with last week’s big release Border 2, which remains steady at the box office and is currently playing across nearly 5,000 screens nationwide. Unsurprisingly, Border 2 earned significantly more on its eighth day (Rs 11 crore) compared to Mardaani 3’s opening-day figures. However, when compared to its predecessor, Mardaani 2, the third instalment has matched the exact opening-day collection of Rs 3.8 crore that the 2019 film recorded. The film has also opened better than several of Rani’s recent releases, including Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, which earned Rs 1.27 crore on day one, Bunty Aur Babli 2, which collected Rs 2.8 crore in its post-pandemic release, and Hichki, which opened at Rs 3.3 crore.

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When viewed against films in similar genres led by other female actors, Mardaani 3 fares comparatively well, say, such as Kareena Kapoor’s The Buckingham Murders, directed by Hansal Mehta, which earned only Rs 1.15 crore on its opening day. Similarly, it has done better than Yami Gautam’s Haq, which collected Rs 1.75 crore, though Mardaani 3 trails Yami’s actioner Article 370, which opened strongly at Rs 5.9 crore. The film has also fallen short of Alia Bhatt’s Jigra, which earned Rs 4.25 crore on its first day.

Going forward, it remains to be seen how Mardaani 3 performs over the weekend and whether the franchise value translates into sustained box office momentum. The film is expected to benefit from a relatively clear release window, with no major competing releases scheduled until Shahid Kapoor’s O Romeo arrives over the Valentine’s Day weekend.