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Priyanka Chopra as Mary Kom is packing a punch at the box office with opening day collections in the range of Rs 8-10 crore and is on its way to breaking even in the first weekend itself. The movie Mary Kom, which was released on Friday and follows the life and struggles of the Olympic medallist boxer has been co-produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures and distributed worldwide by Eros International.
The movie — which has been made at an estimated budget of Rs 15-18 crore, including production, prints and advertising — is perched comfortable on its way to profitability. The movie has the earned the distinction of breaking even in record time, despite having an A-lister on the cast. Analysts and distributors reveal the movie is set to maintain collections over the weekend and should hit the Rs 24 to 28 crore mark by Monday.
Considering the movie is tax free in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and the Northeast, the producers will recover Rs 12-14 crore in the first weekend going by these estimates. Sources say the movie would have made another Rs 3 to 4 crore in music rights under a multiple movie Vicom18 and Zee Music Company deal. This will make the producers’ return on investment on the movie around Rs 16-20 crore, putting them in a break-even position.
While the exact figures are not available, the imputed revenue from the satellite right fee of the movie would be in the range of Rs 12 to 14 crore. The rights lie with Vicom18’s flagship general entertainment channel, Colors. Over and above this, the film had as many as 20 brands tying up with it for association in some form or the other. This translated into visibility worth Rs 20 crore for Mary Kom.
Ajit Andhare, chief operating officer, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said, “Mary Kom has delivered a strong opening day and has set a new first-day benchmark for heroine-centric films. The word of mouth is positive and Priyanka’s standout performance has touched a chord with the audience across sections. The film is further set for a strong weekend.”
The film was released in 1,500 to 1,800 screens in the country, with a multiplex to singled screen ratio of 60:40. The co-producers released the movie after identifying niches that a biopic on a contemporary female boxer would attract footfalls in. For international distribution, the movie will be released in a phased manner. The traditional markets such as the US, the UK and the UAE will be the territories in the first phase of the international release. Mary Kom is being distributed worldwide by Eros International.
While its opening day collection falls short of some other medium budget movies like 2 States (opening day collection – Rs 12 crore) and Ek Villain (Rs 16 crore), it’s collections are on a par with Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhaniya (Rs 9 crore) and Ragini MMS 2 (Rs 8.74 crore). It has, however, far outdone Viacom18’s earlier release of the year — Queen (with Kangana Ranaut in the lead) which managed to rake in only Rs 2 crore on the opening day.
Mary Kom is on its way to being a part of the slew of medium budget movies which have reaped rich dividends for its makers after box office collections, satellite rights and music rights. Last year saw Aditya Roy Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor’s Aashiqui 2 bring in 170 per cent returns on investment for the producers while this year, Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor’s 2 States leads the profitability table with profitability of 92 per cent. Despite its slow start, Queen also turned profitable at the box office during its life time at the movie screens.
