Dulquer Salmaan's period drama Kaantha has opened in theatres to a relatively soft response.
What's Happening
- The Tamil film, which released across more than 2,000 screens in India in both Tamil and Telugu, is estimated to have earned close to Rs 4 crore on its first day, according to early figures from Sacnilk.
- In Tamil Nadu, the film registered an overall Day 1 occupancy of 21.68%. Morning shows started at 14.6%, rose to 19.06% in the afternoon, dipped to 18.62% during the evening, and picked up significantly with 34.44% occupancy for night shows.
- Chennai, where the film had 373 screenings, the highest in the state, recorded a solid 29.5% turnout.
- Bengaluru, with 205 shows, saw much weaker collections, reporting just 9.5% occupancy.
- The Telugu version of Kaantha witnessed an overall occupancy of 19.46%, a figure considered muted given Dulquer Salmaan's strong following in the region.
Background
When placed alongside Dulquer's recent films, the opening day performance appears subdued. His 2024 release Lucky Baskhar started off with Rs 6.45 crore, and the action drama King of Kotha, despite its later drop, had opened at Rs 6.85 crore.
By comparison, Kaantha has done better than the widely loved Sita Ramam, which had earned Rs 3.05 crore on day one in 2022, and also ahead of his Tamil romantic comedy Hey Sinamika, which managed Rs 1 crore on its opening day.
Among Tamil films released in 2025, the film's debut exceeds the unexpected success Tourist Family, which opened at Rs 2 crore, and is slightly ahead of Vikram-starrer Veera Dheera Sooran, which collected Rs 3.2 crore.
But the film's numbers fall well short of major pan-India Tamil releases such as Coolie (Rs 77 crore), Good Bad Ugly (Rs 29.25 crore), Kubera (Rs 14.75 crore), and Madharaasi (Rs 13.65 crore). It also trails Pradeep Ranganathan's Dude, which earned Rs 10 crore on its first day, but remains ahead of Lokah Chapter 1: Chandra, the Dulquer-produced superhero film that opened at Rs 3.15 crore.
Kaantha's release was accompanied by a legal dispute as well. Days before the film hit screens, it was challenged in a Chennai court by the grandson of iconic Tamil star-musician MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, who alleged that the movie depicted his grandfather inaccurately and in a derogatory manner.
While the producers did not issue an official response at the time, Dulquer had earlier maintained that Kaantha is wholly fictional, stating that it is "entirely fictional and not inspired by any real person."
