M S Dhoni biopic off to explosive start

With Rs 21.3 crore, it registers second-highest opening for any film this year

Much like the subject of the film, M S Dhoni: The Untold Story has hit one out of the park — collecting Rs 21.3 crore on its opening day.

Released in over 4,500 screens across India, the film is second only to Salman Khan’s Sultan (Rs 36.5 crore) this year, which released in July on the occasion of Eid.

Directed by Neeraj Pandey, the film has been released in three languages: Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. Apart from India, the movie has also been taken to 59 countries, with the total worldwide footprint amounting to almost 4,900 screens.

The film’s collection on the opening day is commendable bearing in mind that the release day was a working Friday. Analysts believe that the film will continue to do well over the weekend given the word of mouth — even though the film has received mixed reviews from critics.

The positive opening can also be attributed to the theme of the movie that has created excitement among  audiences. Since the film focuses  on the journey of India’s most successful captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it has an inspirational angle that seems to have worked its magic in attracting audiences.

The marketing team at Fox Star Studios, the co-producers of the project, banked on this very aspect of the story, and has been marketing the film as the exhilarating journey of a small town boy who skippered India to two World Cup wins — in 2007 and 2011.

Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios said, “We thank India for this overwhelming love for the biopic on Dhoni’s life. He is the son of the soil and it’s absolutely amazing to see that we have lived up to the expectations of the cricket fans, his fans and the movie-going audience.”

Co-producer Arun Pandey of Inspire Entertainment, added, “We are humbled with the love that India has showered on Mahi’s biopic. The people of the country have always supported him and again they have only given him love. We can only say thank you, India. We have tried to do justice to your love for Mahi.”

The film, which has Sushant Singh Rajput in the lead role, is expected to continue a good run at the movies over the opening weekend, with pundits estimating collections in the region of Rs 63-68 crore from the first three days. Moving into the week as well, the collections should not see a drop of more than 50 per cent, which is expected since there are no holidays in the coming week.

The movie has no major competition at the box office, barring Amitabh Bachchan-starrer Pink, which is now in its fourth week. The small budget film has made around Rs 60 crore since its release on September 16, and continues to attract audiences after widespread appreciation from moviegoers and critics.