Kantara Chapter 1, Rishab Shetty’s highly anticipated prequel to the 2022 blockbuster, has taken the box office by storm. After a record-breaking festive opening, the period action drama is now dominating theatres across India and abroad — crossing the ₹150 crore mark worldwide in just two days.
💥 Kantara Chapter 1 Continues Its Box Office Rampage
After a thunderous opening day collection of ₹90 crore worldwide, the film showed remarkable hold on its second day despite being a working Friday.
According to early estimates, Kantara Chapter 1 earned around ₹45 crore net in India on Day 2, taking its domestic total to ₹106.85 crore net (₹128.25 crore gross).
With strong footfalls across Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra, the film continues to run at housefull shows in major cities.
🌍 Worldwide Box Office Crosses ₹151 Crore in Just 2 Days
Internationally, Rishab Shetty’s magnum opus is performing just as impressively. The film has earned over $2.5 million (₹22.75 crore) from overseas markets within two days — pushing its global total to a staggering ₹151 crore.
This performance cements Kantara Chapter 1 as one of the biggest openings for a Kannada film ever, surpassing previous records held by major releases.
🏆 Beats Mirai, Kesari Chapter 2, and Sky Force
By Friday, Kantara Chapter 1 had already overtaken the lifetime collections of several recent big-ticket films:
- Mirai – ₹142 crore
- Kesari Chapter 2 – ₹144 crore
- Sky Force – ₹150 crore
With this, the Rishab Shetty starrer is now the highest-grossing Kannada film of 2025 — and it’s only Day 2!
Trade analysts predict that the film will cross ₹200 crore by Saturday and could breach the ₹300 crore milestone by Monday or Tuesday, driven by exceptional word-of-mouth and repeat audiences.
🎬 About Kantara Chapter 1
Written, directed, and headlined by Rishab Shetty, Kantara Chapter 1 serves as a prequel to the 2022 cult hit Kantara, which grossed over ₹400 crore worldwide on a modest ₹15 crore budget.
The story of Chapter 1 is set a thousand years before the original, delving deep into the origins of the divine folklore and mythological roots that shaped the original story.
The film also stars Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram, and Gulshan Devaiah in pivotal roles, with Ajaneesh Loknath’s music and Arvind S Kashyap’s cinematography adding to its visual grandeur.
🚀 What’s Next for Kantara Chapter 1
With ticket demand soaring and advance bookings for the weekend already sold out in several regions, Kantara Chapter 1 is poised to become one of the highest-grossing Indian films of 2025.
Fans are now waiting to see whether it can break KGF Chapter 2’s Kannada record and possibly cross the ₹500 crore club by the end of its theatrical run.
