When history and politics collide

The box office didn’t quite light up with either Thackeray or Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi

It was a Friday of two biopics, one with a fierce warrior princess and another chronicling the life of a controversial political leader. Both enjoyed the benefit of a holiday: Republic Day which fell on both film’s second day of release. Yet, Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi has collected ₹49 crore net against Thackeray ’s (Hindi) ₹13.05 crore net. Kangana Ranuat’s film though was made on a reported budget of ₹130 crore and released to more than 2,500 screens across the country. In comparison, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s film had a budget of a mere ₹30 crore with a 1,500-screen release. Clearly there’s a huge gap between these numbers.

Language barriers

After five days of release, the consensus reached is that both films have delivered a mediocre streak at the box office. “

Thackeray is more like a regional [Marathi] film with a Hindi release,” says Shailesh Kapoor of Ormax Media, a firm specialising in trade insights. He adds that the Marathi version opened at an impressive ₹8 crore net (approximately), similar figures to 2016’s

Sairat which eventually sped across the coveted ₹100-crore mark. Unfortunately,

Thackeray ’s Marathi collections plummeted to negligible numbers after the weekend. The Hindi version, which was released across the country, couldn’t resonate with non-Marathi audiences. So much so, that collections in both the North and South have been negligible. In fact, almost 70% of the film’s total collections have been raised in Maharashtra alone, in both single screens and multiplexes. “

Thackeray is a bilingual film and its Hindi and Marathi collections might not cross ₹30 crore net,” says Kapoor. Even then, with satellite and digital rights, the film will surely recover its costs.

Skewed towards multiplexes

On the other hand, Manikarnika - The Queen Of Jhansi — a female-centric film without a big male co-star opened at a respectable ₹7.75 crore net. The biopic with its scale and budget was expected to at least cross ₹100 crore net. It’s evident, the collections won’t cross that number. Plus, the film is heavily skewed towards multiplexes. “ Manikarnika has performed better in the North and the character [Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi] has some resonance in Maharashtra, but it’s been disappointing in the South,” says Kapoor. The film is expected to end its theatrical lifetime under ₹80 crore net. Then there are this week’s releases — The Fakir of Venice and Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga. With niche subjects, both are completely multiplex driven. But their release will give Manikarnika and Thackeray a chance to have a few second-week screenings, bringing in a little if not no money at all.