Rishab Shetty's Kantara: Chapter 1 is off to an earth-shattering start across India. The epic mythological drama, which released on October 2, had paid previews on October 1 night and has seen a continuous surge in collections across all territories in the country. Such has been the film's dominance that it has comfortably gone past the other two releases in Idli Kadai and Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, topping the Dussehra race by a country mile.
In its Hindi version, Kantara: Chapter 1 opened to a strong opening day of Rs 19 crore nett on October 2, making use of the national holiday and sequel hype to generate a fab opening. The film had to hold well on Friday and the strong word-of-mouth ensured that it did, thereby raking in Rs 12.75 crore nett on its second day.
On Saturday, the film was back at full throttle and recorded its biggest single day with collections touching Rs. 20 crore nett. Sunday is expected to see a similar trend and collections in the range of Rs 22-24 crore nett is expected depending on how the interior markets perform. The four-day extended weekend for the Hindi version is expected to be in the Rs 70-75 crore nett range - excellent numbers.
Meanwhile, the direct Hindi release in Varun Dhawan's Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari has struggled at the box office due to weak content and heavy competition from Kantara: Chapter 1. The rom-com also featuring Jhanvi Kapoor, Sanya Malhotra and Rohit Saraf, had a below-par opening day of Rs 9.50 crore nett and the second day numbers went even lower at Rs 5.50 crore nett.
A strong Saturday was needed for the film and while the numbers were above Friday's figures, the jump wasn't satisfactory. The third day collections were reported to be around Rs 7.60 crore nett with Sunday expected to be in the Rs 8 crore nett range. That takes the four-day weekend numbers to Rs 31-32 crore nett approximately - well below par. It must be noted here that Kantara: Chapter 1 has a much limited Hindi version release due to its South versions and has still dominated the Bollywood release completely, though this was expected too.
The bigger surprise, though, is in Tamil Nadu where Dhanush's Idli Kadai is losing the battle to Kantara: Chapter 1 in the opening weekend despite releasing a day earlier. The three-day gross in the state has been around the Rs 23 crore mark with the extended five-day weekend expected to be around the Rs 35-37 crore gross mark. The Tamil version of Kantara: Chapter 1, took a slow start and also released a day earlier but massive word-of-mouth has spread like fire across the state.
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In Tamil Nadu, Kantara: Chapter 1 through its Tamil version has endured a staggering Friday and mind-boggling Saturday with Sunday expected to go even higher. It has also started to get the bigger capacity screens in prime locations with Idli Kadai being shifted to the smaller screens, thereby indicating which film is on top at the moment. The three-day gross for Kantara: Chapter 1 in TN is supposed to be around Rs 19 crore with Sunday expected to be in the Rs 8-9 crore range. A double-digit day can also not be ruled out.
It puts the four-day weekend numbers in TN to approximately Rs 27-29 crore and since its release, it has comfortably been above Idli Kadai in the State. If we consider the all-India collections of Kantara: Chapter 1, it makes a mockery of the other two films. To be fair, it is also the much bigger film in terms of hype, scale and pan-India appeal. Still, to outdo a straight film in its native market is a massive achievement.
****** [Data is compiled from independent sources linked to distributors and theater owners. This website doesn't take responsibility for the authenticity of these numbers]
