Rishab Shetty in Kantara Chapter 1.
Credit: Hombale Films
Bengaluru: The much-acclaimed Kannada film of the year, ‘Kantara: A Legend - Chapter’ is making news for its exceptional box office collection, becoming the highest grossing Kannada film of the year. The film has reportedly beaten the lifetime collection of such Hindi films as Mirai (Rs 142 crore), Kesari Chapter 2 (Rs 144 crore), and Sky Force (Rs 150 crore).
According to box office tracker Sacnilk, the film has so far collected a total of Rs 147.5 crore (gross) worldwide.
The film has been released in six languages including Kannada. The Kannada version earned Rs 19.6 crore on day 1 (October 2) and Rs 13.5 crore on the second day; followed by the Hindi version at Rs 18.5 crore and Rs 12 crore respectively.
“The film is showing a 35 per cent to 45 per cent jump in collections till the afternoon shows compared to Friday, and the momentum is expected to gain further during the evening and night screenings, on Saturday,” according to Sacnilk.
Although some reports by trade analysts on X suggest fake numbers of hourly ticket sales by ticketing partners, most theatres have remained mostly housefull throughout the day in Bengaluru on Saturday.
‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ is a prequel to the hit Kannada film ‘Kantara’ released in 2022. Made on a budget of Rs 15 crore, the 2022 film collected over Rs 400 crore worldwide.
It is directed by Rishab Shetty and produced by Hombale Films. Rishab also plays the lead role alongside Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah and Jayaram.
This report is based on the collection till Saturday afternoon.