The roar of Kantara is back — and louder than ever. Rishab Shetty’s much-awaited prequel, Kantara Chapter 1, stormed into theatres this Dusshera and has already rewritten box office history.
Within a single day of release, the film has pulled in an astonishing Rs 60 crore, making it one of the biggest openers of the year across India.
As per a trading website, from the very first show, the craze was evident. The numbers in Karnataka were astounding: morning shows had an occupancy rate of 73.56%, afternoon shows had a near-total of 96.14%, evening shows had a 90.78% occupancy rate, and night shows maintained a strong 92.04% occupancy rate.
Audiences flocked to both temple towns and city multiplexes, demonstrating the Kantara franchise's cultural appeal once more.
What makes the achievement sweeter is the films it has surpassed. On opening day alone, Kantara Chapter 1 outperformed titles like Saiyaara (Rs 22 crore), Sikandar (Rs 26 crore), and Chhaava (Rs 31 crore).
Fans aren’t the only ones celebrating. The industry too has showered its admiration. Jr NTR, one of Telugu cinema’s biggest stars, congratulated the team with heartfelt words: “Congratulations to the team of #KantaraChapter1 on scoring a resounding success. @shetty_rishab sir pulled off the unthinkable by excelling both as a mindblowing actor and a brilliant director. My best wishes to the entire cast and crew, along with @hombalefilms, for fearlessly backing Rishab sir’s vision.”
Backed by Hombale Films, the powerhouse studio behind KGF and the original Kantara, the film is being hailed as both a daring spectacle and a deeply rooted cultural narrative.
A part of review by Moneycontrol read, "The action scenes, especially the chariot chase, are really well done, with great choreography and detailed special effects. A few funny touches make an otherwise interesting story less serious. The first part of the movie takes a long time to build up the world and characters, which causes pacing problems. Some essential moments are rushed through, while others appear to go on forever. This makes the story imbalanced. Gulshan Devaiah is a good performer, but his character doesn't leave a lasting impression. It can also feel like too much labour to pack in information about gods, tribes, and cultural things in a short amount of screen time."
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