Yash Raj Films' bid to breathe new life into its lone female-led franchise has stalled. Mardaani 3, which had its premiere on 30th Jan, wrapped up its first week with a fairly underwhelming domestic total of 26.55 crore (or $3.2 million), failing to quite match up to its 2019 predecessor. The fact that it's doing so poorly comes as no surprise, given the current state of the movie market - which is being completely dominated by Border 2, starring Sunny Deol's record-breaking blockbuster.
Directed by Abhiraj Minawala, the threequel was trying to repeat the gritty, low-key formula that worked so well for the first two films. However, not everyone's been blown away, with many critics pointing out that the "Gopi Puthran magic" from Mardaani 2 is missing - which is what made the second one such a hit in the first place. While Mallika Prasad was generating some buzz with her portrayal of "Amma" - a beggar-mafia matriarch - the script played it a bit too safe, relying on old familiar plot twists that haven't been as compelling this time round, which is bad news for the word-of-mouth that's really needed if you want to make it with a mid-budget thriller like this one.
With a reported budget of 60 crore, the film is only on the cusp of breaking even, at this point, in its theatrical run. Trade analysts reckon that the 7-year gap between sequels might have helped to water down the urgency around the brand. More and more, people seem to be turning away from mid-budget films that don't have the same sort of scale or blockbuster credentials as Border 2.
For Rani Mukerji, who recently marked 30 years in the industry, Mardaani 3 is a personal milestone, at the very least. But the commercial failure has definitely raised the prospect of a fourth installment being pretty unlikely. Now, everyone will be keeping an eye on how the film does on digital - where the previous ones have somehow found a second life.