From folklore to frenzy: Kantara prequel storms Box Office, now comes Rishab Shetty’s big test

Kantara: Chapter 1

Kannada period drama Kantara’s franchise has had a roaring return on the big screen, with the latest instalment - Kantara: Chapter 1 - drawing audiences to mystic storytelling and striking box office gold for director and actor Rishabh Shetty with impressive collections.

Kantara Chapter 1 - Box office hit?

The 2022 blockbuster Kantara had laid a solid foundation, and the new chapter has raised the stakes with slickly choreographed action and quality visual effects, delivering several ‘can’t miss’ moments that audiences are raving about. Read More

The buzz of the franchise led to a strong box office for the latest chapter, starting with Rs 61.85 crore in the domestic market across languages, with good initial reviews keeping the momentum going. The movie did experience a few dips in the first four days of its release, but it has still managed to collect over Rs 264 crore.

"The movie is doing wonders across all languages including Hindi, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu. It is truly a pan-India movie," said Nitin Menon, NV Capital.

Menon expects the movie to at least do a business of Rs 500 crore across all languages.

"It is a huge blockbuster. In the Kannada industry the last few months has been spectacular with some big blockbusters like Mahavatar Narsimha, Su from So and Kantara. Two of these movies are from the banner of Hombale Films that is pushing the envelope for Kannada cinema as well as actors like Rishabh shetty, Yash, Rishabh, Raj Shetty who are known for their spectacular performances. They are the torchbearers who will take Kannada cinema forward," Menon said.

Read More: Hombale Film’s Kantara Chapter 1 set to screen at Rashtrapati Bhawan after its historic box office run

Big Win for Kannada film industry?

After back-to-back success for the Kannada film industry with hits like Mahavatar Narsimha and Su From So. the new chapter of Kantara has hit a double century, becoming only the third Kannada film to earn over Rs 200 crore.

Kantara: Chapter 1 hit the Rs 200 crore mark within four days of its release, joining the league of films like KGF Chapter 2 and 2022 Kantara. The new installment in the Kantara franchise has also become the third-highest-grossing Kannada film of all time at the Indian box office.

The highest grossing Kannada film at the India box office include KGF Chapter 2 with a business of Rs 856 crore, followed by the 2022 release - Kantara - at Rs 309.64 crore. Kantara: Chapter 1 now ranks third with 223.75 crore business so far, while KGF Chapter 1 is the fourth highest earning film with collections to the tune of Rs 185.24 crore. This year’s Su From So - a horror comedy – had also struck gold at the box office with a business of Rs 92.33 crore.

The Kannada language blockbusters had shaken up the worldwide box office too, leb by KGF Chapter 2 topping the list with Rs 1,230 crore, while Kantara coming in second with Rs 409.37 crore. The new installment by Rishab Shetty has already made it to the top three by raking in Rs 236.45 crore worldwide in just three days. KGF Chapter 1's worldwide business stood at Rs 228.58 crore and Su From So collected Rs 123.94 crore.

Hindi version of Kantara a blockbuster?

Film trade analyst Komal Nahta pointed out that the 2022 release had opened with a business of less than Rs 1.50 crore, while the opening of Kantara Chapter 1 is more than 12 times at Rs 19 crore.

The Hindi version of the new Kantara movie saw a drop in collections on the second day but picked up pace with day three business at Rs 20 crore and Rs 23 crore on fourth day, collecting a total of Rs 75 crore, or around 28 percent of the film's total collections.

Bollywood feeling the heat from Kantara Chapter 1?

The Dussehra holiday had two big releases--- the much-awaited Kantara Chapter 1 and Bollywood's Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, starring popular names like Janhvi Kapoor and Varun Dhawan. The Kannada film is dominating its Hindi counterpart, racing far ahead in terms of box office business. Read More

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari has collected around Rs 30 crore over its extended first weekend of four days. The film started its box office journey with around Rs 9.50 crore collections and saw its earnings drop in the following days with business of Rs 5.5 crore, Rs 7.5 crore and Rs 8 crore.

"The original movie Kantara released in 2022 had done reasonably well in Hindi and started picking up around the second and third week. On the other hand, Kantara Chapter 1 has already done almost the entire Hindi collection of the first movie in just one week. It is a Hindi Blockbuster as well," Menon added.

Kantara Chapter 1 is not only competing with new Bollywood releases, but it is holding up well against the earlier releases of the year. The film's first four day business has surpassed the collections of big starrer movies like Raid 2 starring Ajay Devgn which had earned Rs 73.83 crores in the four-day period, Akshay Kumar's Sky Force which collected Rs 73.2 crore, Aamir Khan's Sitaare Zameen Par’s Rs 57.3 crore collection and Akshay Kumar's Jolly LLB 3 which is still running in cinemas and had collected Rs 53.5 crore in the initial period.

The mythological action drama’s success has delivered the sixth biggest opening weekend of 2025.

Kantara Chapter 1: Will the box office momentum continue?

While over the weekend, the film wooed audiences in large numbers, it remains is to be seen whether the period drama will sustain the momentum during the week.

The large Rs 160 crore budget of the new instalment has been a point of concern, Nahta said, who said the opening might seem below the mark for a Dussehra release.

In his view, the release strategy of the Hindi dubbed version was faulty as the film did not warrant such a massive release. While the early numbers point towards another potential hit, the film’s long-term success will depend on whether it can maintain momentum beyond its opening surge.