Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1 has created history at the box office, surpassing the lifetime domestic collection of the original Kantara within just a week of release.
The film, a prequel to the 2022 blockbuster, has emerged as a true pan-India success with its Hindi version outperforming the original Kannada release.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film collected Rs 25 crore on Wednesday (day 7) across all languages. Although this marked its lowest single-day collection so far, it pushed the total domestic earnings to Rs 316 crore. The film had opened to a strong Rs 61.85 crore on its first day. Its day 6 earnings stood at Rs 34.25 crore, while day 5 brought in Rs 31.50 crore.
With this, Kantara: Chapter 1 has not only crossed the Rs 300 crore mark but also overtaken the first film’s total of Rs 309.64 crore across all languages, which it had achieved after a 10-week run.
Unlike the original, which was released only in Kannada before expanding to other languages, Kantara: Chapter 1 was conceived as a pan-India project from the start. This strategy paid off, as the Hindi dubbed version has emerged as the highest contributor to the film’s total earnings.
The Hindi version has collected Rs 102 crore by the end of the opening week. The Kannada version stands close behind at Rs 98.85 crore and is expected to cross the Rs 100 crore mark soon. The Telugu version has earned Rs 60.90 crore, followed by Tamil at Rs 29.40 crore and Malayalam at Rs 24.85 crore.
In the Hindi market, Kantara: Chapter 1 has outperformed Shashank Khaitan’s Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, which earned Rs 38.75 crore in its opening week.
Written, directed, and co-produced by Rishab Shetty, the period action epic stars Jayaram, Rukmini Vasanth, and Gulshan Devaiah in key roles.