‘Kantara Chapter 1’ box office collection day 1: Rishab Shetty film storms past Rs 60 crore mark
Rishab Shetty’s highly awaited prequel ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ has made a thunderous start at the Indian box office, pulling in massive numbers on its opening day. Released on October 2 to coincide with the Dussehra holiday, the film has quickly established itself as one of the biggest pan-India openers of the year.
Strong opening despite slow start
Industry tracker Sacnilk reported that the film grossed an estimated Rs 60 crore nett (after tax deductions) across India on Day 1. The morning shows saw a relatively muted turnout, but audience response from premiere screenings drove strong evening and night occupancies. With a production budget of roughly Rs 125 crore, the prequel is already on course for recovery.
Hindi market performance
The Rishab Shetty-starrer is believed to have collected between Rs 19 crore and Rs 21 crore nett in the Hindi-speaking belt. This makes it the second-largest Hindi opening for a Kannada film, behind only Yash’s ‘KGF: Chapter 2’, which had set the bar at Rs 54 crore nett. The Kannada version of the film posted an impressive 88.13 per cent occupancy, while dubbed versions recorded 75.34 per cent in Telugu, 71.42 per cent in Tamil and 29.84 per cent in Hindi.
On its very first day, ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ surpassed the opening-day earnings of major 2025 releases such as ‘Saiyaara’ (Rs 22 crore), ‘Sikandar’ (Rs 26 crore) and ‘Chhaava’ (Rs 31 crore). The film’s collections are already nearing the opening benchmark set by Rajinikanth’s ‘Coolie’ (Rs 65 crore).
Celebrity endorsements
Several big stars have lauded the film publicly. Prabhas wrote on Instagram, "#KantaraChapter1 is a brilliant film with outstanding performances from everyone….. The biggest blockbuster of the year. Congratulations to Rishab Shetty, Vijay Kiragandur and Hombale Films!!"
Jr NTR also celebrated its success on social media, tweeting, “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.”
About the film
‘Kantara: Chapter 1’ serves as a prequel to Shetty’s 2022 blockbuster ‘Kantara’, which won him the National Award for Best Actor and also earned the honour of Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment. The period mythological drama stars Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah and Jayaram alongside Shetty.
The project is produced by Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda under Hombale Films, with cinematography by Arvind S Kashyap, music by B Ajaneesh Loknath, editing by Suresh Mallaiah and production design by Banglan.