New Delhi: Rishab Shetty’s Kantara Chapter 1, the prequel to his National Award-winning 2022 film Kantara, continues its remarkable run at the Indian box office. Eleven days into its release, the film has crossed the ₹400 crore mark, surpassing the lifetime collections of major blockbusters such as SS Rajamouli’s ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ and ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’, starring Prabhas and Prithviraj Sukumaran.

A Record-Breaking Run

According to figures from Sacnilk, ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ earned ₹39 crore on both its second Saturday and Sunday, bringing its total domestic collection to ₹437.65 crore. In its first week alone, the film amassed ₹337.4 crore, with the Hindi version contributing ₹108.75 crore and the Kannada version ₹106.95 crore.

Film trade analyst Taran Adarsh commented on the film’s stellar performance, stating:

“#KantaraChapter1 emerges a HIT... As expected, the film witnessed superb growth [102.39%] on its second Saturday, further cementing its status... #Maharashtra continues to drive the business for the #Hindi version. The Sunday numbers are expected to give its already-impressive total an even bigger boost... Should hit the ₹150 cr mark [today].”

Kantara Chapter 1 has now become the highest-grossing Kannada film of the year, overtaking ‘Su From So’, which had earned ₹125 crore. It has also outperformed the Indian box office totals of ‘Game Changer’, starring Ram Charan, and Salman Khan’s ‘Sikandar’, both released earlier this year.

Having crossed ₹400 crore, the film overtook the Indian collections of ‘Salaar’ (₹406.45 crore) and ‘Baahubali: The Beginning’ (₹420 crore), placing it among the top-performing Indian films in recent years.

‘Kantara Chapter 1’ is directed by Rishab Shetty, who co-wrote the script with Anirudh Mahesh and Shanil Guru. The film stars Rishab Shetty in the lead role, alongside Jayaram, Rukmini Vasanth, and Gulshan Devaiah.

The film serves as a prequel to ‘Kantara’ (2022), which was both a critical and commercial success. Rishab Shetty received the National Award for Best Actor for his role in the original film, which also won the award for Best Popular Film.