Hyderabad: Rishab Shetty’s 'Kantara Chapter 1' has stormed the box office, emerging as a nationwide phenomenon.

The mythological prequel has raked in an impressive ₹162.85 crore net in India within just three days of release, setting new records for Kannada cinema and outpacing several major pan-India titles.

According to trade tracker Sacnilk, the film opened with a massive Dussehra haul of ₹61.85 crore, followed by ₹46 crore on Friday and a strong ₹55 crore on Saturday, keeping up its momentum through the festive weekend.

Breaking Records

On Friday, 'Kantara Chapter 1' became the highest-grossing Kannada release of 2025, surpassing Su From So’s lifetime earnings of ₹92 crore.

By Saturday, it had overtaken the lifetime totals of big-ticket releases like Salman Khan’s Sikandar (₹110 crore) and Ram Charan’s Game Changer (₹131 crore).

The film also crossed the ₹150 crore milestone, becoming only the fourth Kannada film ever to achieve the feat.

Overseas Thunder

The film’s magic isn’t confined to India — 'Kantara Chapter 1' has collected over $2.5 million (around ₹22 crore) in international markets within two days, and overseas numbers are expected to surge further over the weekend.

Industry Praise

Among its admirers is 'Animal' (2023) director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, who hailed the film on social media:

“'Kantara Chapter 1' is a true MASTERPIECE. Indian cinema has never seen anything like this before. It’s a cinematic thunderstorm — raw, divine, and unshakable.”

A Prequel with Power

Written, directed, and headlined by Rishab Shetty, the film is a prequel to the 2022 blockbuster 'Kantara' (2022) , which grossed over ₹400 crore worldwide on a modest ₹15 crore budget.

Set a thousand years before the original, the story stars Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram, and Gulshan Devaiah alongside Shetty. With word-of-mouth soaring and audiences calling it a spiritual experience, 'Kantara Chapter 1' shows no sign of slowing down.