The makers of Patriot have announced that the film has crossed ₹61.25 crore worldwide in its first three days. The update was shared on social media after what looked like a strong opening weekend on paper.
Starring Mammootty and Mohanlal, the spy thriller opened to double-digit numbers on day one, driven largely by the hype around the two stars coming together again after a long gap. Overseas markets, as expected, contributed a major share early on, which helped push the global total up quickly. At the same time, the mixed talk around the film started almost immediately, and that seems to be reflected in the day-wise trend.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk.com, Patriot collected ₹10 crore net from India on day one, followed by ₹6.15 crore on day two and ₹5.5 crore on day three. By day four, the drop became more evident, with the film adding around ₹2.89 crore net on Monday. That is roughly a 47 per cent fall from Sunday. The cumulative India net after four days now stands at ₹24.54 crore, while the gross is around ₹28.95 crore.
What stands out is that this dip is happening despite a relatively open box office window. Films like Vaazha 2: Biopic of a Billion Bros, Bharathanatyam 2, Mohiniyattam and Pallichattambi are currently running in theatres, but none of them is putting up big numbers.
Even without major competition, Patriot is seeing a steady decline, which points more towards audience reception. Written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan, the film revolves around a scientific adviser linked to the defence establishment, dealing with surveillance, spyware misuse and larger political and corporate power structures. The ensemble cast also includes Fahadh Faasil, Kunchacko Boban, Nayanthara, Revathy, Darshana Rajendran, Rajiv Menon, Indrans and Grace Antony in key roles.
The film, which hit theatres on May 1, is reportedly mounted on a budget of ₹125 crore. In four days, it has managed to recover only about 20 per cent of that amount, which is not a great position to be in this early. Trade estimates for four days put the worldwide gross slightly higher than the makers’ three-day figure, at around ₹63.04 crore, with overseas alone contributing roughly ₹38.5 crore.
There was some expectation that Patriot would continue the strong run Malayalam cinema has been enjoying this year, but the trend suggests otherwise.