Not SSKTK, Kantara Chapter 1's Box Office Competition Is With Pushpa 2, KGF 2; Here's Why

Rishab Shetty’s pan-India epic Kantara Chapter 1 has finally released in theatres all over India. While the response in Karnataka is outstanding, elsewhere, the opening is satisfactory.

Kantara Chapter 1 in Hindi has clashed with Karan Johar’s rom-com Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari starring Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor.

Even though the two films have clashed head on at the box office in Hindi, Kantara Chapter 1’s real competition is actually Allu Arjun starrer Pushpa 2: The Rule and Yash starrer KGF: Chapter 2.

© Hombale Films

Kantara Chapter 1 Real Box Office Competition Is Pushpa 2 & KGF 2

Released in theatres in 2018, KGF made Rs 44.09 crore in Hindi despite clashing with Shah Rukh Khan starrer Zero.

While the box office of the film was seemingly low, the response from the audience was highly positive to the Prashanth Neel directorial and hence the sequel released amid massive hype breaking numerous box office records.

In 2022, KGF: Chapter 2 made an astounding Rs 434.70 crore in Hindi becoming the second top grosser of all time in Bollywood at the time of its release.

© Hombale Films

Similarly, Allu Arjun starrer Pushpa: The Rise released in theatres in 2021 amid zero buzz and competing from Spider-Man: No Way Home and Ranveer Singh’s 83 which came out a week later.

Moreover, there were also rising cases of COVID-19 pandemic third wave at the time. Despite that, the Sukumar directorial sustained well in theatres, became a pop culture phenomenon and eventually made Rs 108.26 crore in Hindi.

Its sequel released in 2024 to all-time high hype and broke all records for films in Hindi. It is currently the top grosser in Hindi earning Rs 830.10 crore.

© Mythri Movie Makers

Now coming to Kantara Chapter 1, the first film in the franchise Kantara released in 2022 to solid response and earned a good Rs 79.25 crore in Hindi.

The kind of business in Hindi was solely due to the word of mouth and the highly positive social media buzz around the film.

Later, when its sequel was announced, the expectations were nothing short of what KGF: Chapter 2 or Pushpa 2: The Rule did at the box office in Hindi.

However, the hype around the sequel when the advance booking opened was quite low probably due to poor promotion in Hindi and also the trailer which wasn’t received well by the audiences.

Kantara Chapter 1 has now opened to positive reviews from the audiences but the advance booking remained well below expectations which means it may barely hit Rs 20 crore on day one despite the big holiday of Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra.

© Hombale Films

Even though the opening is fair for a south Indian dubbed film, it is nowhere near the phenomenon that were other similar pan-Indian sequels like Pushpa 2: The Rule and KGF Chapter 2.

Kantara Chapter 1 has 20 days of free run at the box office in Hindi till Thamma releases on Diwali on October 21. Despite that, it may not even do half of what KGF 2 did at the Hindi box office in its lifetime run unless the jump in the biz over the 4-day extended weekend is extraordinary and then it sustains on unthinkable levels over the weekdays.