Kantara Chapter 1 Box Office Collections: Rishab Shetty starrer Scores 70cr Opening Day in India

The Rishab Shetty starrer will rank as the sixteenth or eighteenth highest first-day grosser ever in India, subject to where the actuals land.

By Jatinder Singh

Updated on Oct 03, 2025 | 12:33 PM IST | 105K

Rishab Shetty in Kantara Chapter 1 (image courtesy of Hombale Films)

Kantara: Chapter 1 opened strongly at the Indian box office, collecting Rs. 69-70 crore approx on its first day. This includes nearly Rs. 4.50 crore from the previews on Wednesday night, mostly from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The Rishab Shetty starrer will rank as the sixteenth or eighteenth highest first-day grosser ever in India, subject to where the actuals land.

That said, expectations were for an even bigger start, given the Pan-India appreciation the original film had. The letdown was the Hindi, which was going to be the main driver of the collection, but couldn’t meet those lofty expectations, keeping the overall number down. Setting aside the trade expectations, which were for an opening akin to other South sequels like Pushpa 2 or KGF 2, the film should have gone over Rs. 30 crore nett at least, with the big holiday release it had, but it could only muster around half of that.

In South, the film scored the second-biggest opening day of all time in the home state of Karnataka, just behind KGF 2. The film grossed Rs. 22 crore approx in the state, including previews, making it only the second time a film went over the Rs. 20 crore mark in a single day. The original film is still the highest-grossing film ever in the state. It will be interesting to see if this film could go on to challenge it.

Telugu states saw a strong launch for the film as well, with Rs. 13.75 crore first day, making it one of the biggest openings for a non-Tollywood film in the states. It could have done even better, but it had to compete with the local film They Call Him OG, which is doing quite well. Tamil Nadu and Kerala also delivered with opening, especially the latter, with one of the biggest opening days in the state.