Kantara Chapter 1 is set to release in theatres on October 2. Directed and headlined by Rishab Shetty, the film also features Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah and Jayaram in pivotal roles. The advance booking window for the movie opened this week.
According to a report by Sacnilk, Kantara Chapter 1 has collected Rs 11.46 crore (without block seats) for 11,800 shows. The film has already sold over 4 lakh tickets for its opening day across India. The report also noted that with block seats, the number stands at Rs 18.95 crore. Block seats are typically reserved for last-minute bookings, promotions, or studio schemes.
Not surprisingly, the majority of ticket bookings are from the Kannada-speaking region, with 2,14,933 tickets sold for 1,780 shows. Despite the cult status of the original Kantara, the prequel has not yet replicated the same momentum in the Hindi belt. Advance bookings in the region have so far generated over Rs 1.9 crore, with around 57,000 tickets sold for 6,393 shows.
Kantara Chapter 1 has also resonated with Tamil and Telugu audiences, selling 39,270 and 33,492 tickets respectively. The Malayalam version is doing exceptionally well, with 53,957 tickets sold across just 1,236 shows. The movie still lags behind blockbuster Kannada films like KGF Chapter 2, which had advance sales of Rs 17.95 crore in Kannada (Without block seats) alone by its opening day. Even this year's top-grossing film, Chhaava, also earned Rs 13.79 crore (without block seats) in day-one advance sales.
Kantara Chapter 1 will clash at the box office with Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor's Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari. The Bollywood romantic-comedy has reported net advance booking collections of around Rs 1.13 crore, with approximately 28,698 tickets sold. With block seats, the total rises to Rs 2.26 crore. With 24 hours left before release, numbers are expected to grow as single-screen bookings open and buzz builds for both films.
Produced by Hombale Films, Kantara Chapter 1 is one of the most-awaited releases of the year. The film serves as a prequel to the 2022 National Award-winning project, Kantara. It will release worldwide in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Bengali and English.
While the original Kantara explored land conflicts and the role of the Daiva spirit in modern times, Chapter 1 is set much earlier — in the 4th century CE during the reign of the Kadamba dynasty in pre-colonial coastal Karnataka. It focuses on the origin of the legend and the history of the Bhuta Kola ritual.