Kantara Chapter 1 earns Rs 106.85 crore in two days, matches War 2’s collection
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Rishab Shetty’s Kantara Chapter 1 has had a massive start at the box office, earning Rs 106.85 crore in just two days.
According to industry tracker Sacnilk, the film collected Rs 45 crore on its second day, placing it in the same league as Hrithik Roshan and Jr NTR’s War 2, which made Rs 110 crore in two days earlier this year.
The performance far surpasses the opening of the first Kantara film.
The 2022 release earned only Rs 4.6 crore in its first two days but went on to collect more than Rs 400 crore worldwide. The second part has already earned a quarter of that amount in its opening two days and is eyeing a strong weekend, with estimates suggesting it could cross Rs 200 crore soon.
The occupancy for Kantara Chapter 1 averaged 82.31% on its second day. Morning shows recorded 60.03%, afternoon shows surged to 90.73%, while evening and night shows reached 86.48% and 92%, respectively.
The film ran close to 1,500 shows in Kannada, with Bengaluru alone hosting over 950. The city maintained a strong occupancy of 86%. In addition, the film was screened in more than 1,000 Telugu shows and 4,683 Hindi shows, more than double the number offered in its original language.
Directed by Rishab Shetty, the film stars Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah, and Jayaram.
The strong response comes after Shetty defended the controversial protagonist of the first film. Speaking to THR, he said that the film was about Shiva and no one else. He described Shiva not as a hero but as a villain whose character was flawed, behaviour questionable, and language crass, with all the bad habits. He added that Shiva had failed to live up to societal expectations, particularly those tied to his father’s legacy as a revered daiva nartaka, and that the story focused on his transformation.
While War 2 eventually fell flat despite its promising start, Kantara Chapter 1 is building momentum for what could become one of the biggest box office successes of the year.