3 minutes of readingBombayJanuary 31, 2026 09:08 am IST
Mardaani 3 Day 1 Box Office Pickup: After the success of Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, which also earned her her first National Award, Rani Mukerji returns to the big screen with the third installment of the Mardaani franchise. The release comes at a significant time in her career as the actress marks 30 years in the Hindi film industry. Once again, Rani reprises her role as no-nonsense cop Shivani Shivaji Roy, taking on another challenging case rooted in the deep-rooted sexism and patriarchy that continue to influence large sections of the country. While Mardaani 3 has received largely decent reviews, its opening day box office numbers seem modest. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film earned Rs 3.8 crore on its release day.
Premiering in approximately 2,345 shows across the country, the film recorded an overall occupancy of 18.01% on the first day. The morning shows opened with a minimum occupancy of 8.97%, which improved to 14.78% in the afternoon. The night shows saw a slight increase to 17.13%, before the film closed the day on a stronger note with 31.14% occupancy during the night shows. At the regional level, Delhi-NCR led with the highest number of shows with 526, recording an occupancy of 18.75%. Bombay It followed with 381 shows and had a better performance, recording an occupancy of 26.75%.
It is worth noting that despite being backed by Yash Raj Films, Mardaani 3 has had a relatively minor release. The film continues to compete for shows with last week’s big release, Border 2, holding steady at the box office and currently playing on nearly 5,000 screens nationwide. As expected, Border 2 earned significantly more on its eighth day (Rs 11 crore) compared to the opening day figures of Mardaani 3. However, compared to its predecessor, Mardaani 2, the third release matched the exact opening day collection of Rs 3.8 crore that the 2019 film recorded. The film also opened better than several of Rani’s recent releases, including Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway, which earned 1.27 crore on the first day, Bunty Aur Babli 2, which grossed Rs 2.8 crore in its post-pandemic release, and Hichki, which opened with Rs 3.3 crore.
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When compared to films of similar genres directed by other actresses, Mardaani 3 does comparatively well, for example, like Kareena Kapoor’s The Buckingham Murders, directed by Hansal Mehta, which collected only Rs 1.15 crore on its opening day. Similarly, it has fared better than Yami Gautam’s Haq, which grossed Rs 1.75 crore, although Mardaani 3 is behind Yami’s Item 370, which opened strongly at Rs 5.9 crore. The film also failed to match Alia Bhatt’s Jigra, which earned Rs 4.25 crore on its first day.
Looking ahead, it remains to be seen how Mardaani 3 performs over the weekend and whether the value of the franchise translates into sustained box office momentum. The film is expected to benefit from a relatively clear release window, with no major releases scheduled until Shahid Kapoor’s O Romeo Arrives During Valentine’s Weekend.