Riteish Deshmukh's "Raja Shivaji" is doing the kind of business that even some of the biggest superstar-driven films haven't been able to do in its opening week. The big-scale historical epic, directed by the actor himself, has earned Rs 81.13 crore in gross domestic collections and Rs 68.36 crore in net earnings. It is now the third-highest-grossing Marathi film of all time.
In terms of overall gross, it has outperformed other Marathi-language hits, like "Natsamrat" and "Ved". It now eyes the lifetime gross of "Baipan Bhari Deva" (Rs 90.50 crore) and "Sairat" (Rs 110 crore). Considering that its primary target audience is Marathi-speaking viewers and since the highest share of its revenue is coming from that set of audiences, it would be unfair to compare it to the recent biggies in the Hindi language, such as "Dhurandhar 2" and "Chhaava", since they were made predominantly for the Hindi audiences.
But as a regional film, it's doing exceptionally well, with daily earnings so far staying above the Rs 5 crore mark, even as it completes a 10-day run. On its second Sunday, it earned Rs 6.80 crore, and 5.60 crore on the second Saturday.
However, if we were to compare its collections to a Hindi-language hit, a reasonable example would be to say it has surpassed the overall net collection of Rani Mukerji's "Mardaani 3" (Rs 52.99 crore).
With a reported production budget somewhere between Rs 75 and Rs 100 crore, it is the most expensive Marathi film ever made. If the film continues to maintain this pace, it could easily recover that budget.
