‘Kantara Chapter 1’ Storms Past Rs 5.7 Cr In Advance Bookings
Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ smashes past Rs 5.7 crore in day-one advance bookings, racing ahead of Varun Dhawan–Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’.
The Dussehra box office is set for a major clash as Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ and Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’ both release on October 2. While anticipation is high for both films, early trends suggest that ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ is racing ahead with record-breaking advance bookings. The prequel to the 2022 blockbuster ‘Kantara’, Rishab Shetty’s new film has been one of the most awaited releases of the year.
Advance booking opened on Sunday, and within just over 24 hours, the film grossed Rs 5.7 crore in pre-sales, selling 1.7 lakh tickets for opening day. This figure already surpasses the opening of the original ‘Kantara’, which had collected only Rs 2 crore on its first day back in 2022.
The momentum also puts ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ ahead of several recent big-ticket films. In fact, three days before release, it has outpaced the advance booking numbers of Pawan Kalyan’s ‘OG’ and Hrithik Roshan–Jr NTR’s ‘War 2’, neither of which crossed the Rs 5 crore mark at the same stage. It is even racing ahead of Yash’s ‘KGF: Chapter 1’ in pre-sales, the Kannada film that went on to gross over Rs 250 crore worldwide. Trade experts predict that with this kind of buzz, ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ could comfortably surpass the Rs 400 crore worldwide gross of the first installment.
For now, the bulk of sales have come from the Kannada version, while advance bookings in other languages are slower to pick up. So far, collections include Rs 36 lakh from Hindi shows and just over Rs 5 lakh across Telugu, Tamil, and Malayalam combined. Analysts expect these numbers to grow sharply as more screens open in north India over the next two days.
Written and directed by Rishab Shetty, ‘Kantara Chapter 1’ is set ten centuries before the events of the first film, exploring the origins of its mythology. While Rishab Shetty returns, the film also features Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram, and Gulshan Devaiah in key roles.
Meanwhile, Shashank Khaitan’s romantic comedy ‘Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari’ has opened advance booking on a more modest note. By Monday evening, it had sold 6,759 tickets nationwide, with collections standing at Rs 34.52 lakh, according to Sacnilk. Trade sources call this a healthy number for the rom-com genre but note that it is somewhat low for a festive release. However, such films often benefit more from strong word of mouth than a massive opening.
If we consider block seats, then the number swells up to Rs 1.12 crore. The film stars Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor as two heartbroken individuals trying to make their exes jealous, with Sanya Malhotra and Rohit Saraf playing the former partners. Maniesh Paul and Akshay Oberoi round out the cast.
Many trade experts believe that Rishab Shetty’s magnum opus could outperform the Bollywood rom-com with just its Hindi version alone.
Both films hit theatres across India on October 2, setting the stage for a dramatic box office face-off this festive season.
