In its two week run so far, M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story has turned out to be the highest grossing biopic ever already. The film has netted 121.48 crore in theaters and is still in the running. In the process, it has comfortably surpassed Bhaag Milkha Bhaag which had enjoyed a lifetime run of 103.5 crore. The next big biopic was The Dirty Picture (85 crore) which was surpassed by the Neeraj Pandey directed film inside its first week itself.
Ironically, it was Bhaag Milkha Bhaag‘s director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra whose Mirzya was in competition with M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story this time around. However, the filmmaker couldn’t get lucky with his legendary romantic folk tale as audiences chose a cricketer’s biopic instead. If Mirzya would have done as per its budget and potential, M.S. Dhoni – The Untold Story was at one point in time staring at a lifetime total of 125 crore. However, the film would do much better than that now as 135 crore seems to be on the cards. Though that includes Tamil and Telugu versions as well, it is still on the verge of becoming a hit at the box office.
If one brings in a trivia here, it is actually Shekhar Kapoor’s Bandit Queen which has been one of the most successful biopic to have come out of India. Though way back in 1996 it had collected 14 crore, if one adjusts for inflation then the film’s collections are greater than 120 crore. However, the Sushant Singh Rajput has managed to surpass the Seema Biswas starrer dacoit drama as well, hence rewriting history.
*Estimates. Final numbers awaited.
Note: All collections as per production and distribution sources
Joginder Tuteja tweets @tutejajoginder