Kantara Chapter 1 earns Rs 6.3 billion worldwide, flexes past Saiyaara for 2025 top spot

Move over, Chhaava. There’s a new box-office boss making its mark, and it’s Kannada superstar Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: Chapter 1 . While the Vicky Kaushal-starrer held the top spot for eight months, Kantara: Chapter 1 is now flexing hard internationally, raking in Rs 95.2 crore (Rs 952 million) overseas in just 12 days—already surpassing Chhaava’s entire global haul of Rs 910 million.

Back home, the numbers are no less impressive. On its second Monday, Kantara: Chapter 1 pulled in an estimated Rs 13.5 crore (Rs 135 million) domestically, pushing its total India nett to Rs 451.90 crore. (Rs 4.5 billion_ While that's a 66 per cent drop from Sunday’s blockbuster Rs 39.75 crore, but the film’s multilingual editions are all holding their own—Kannada and Hindi versions at Rs 4.75 crore each, Tamil at Rs 1.5 crore, Telugu Rs 1.35 crore, and Malayalam Rs 1.15 crore. All told, the worldwide gross has touched a staggering Rs 635.5 crore.

Occupancy numbers tell the story of growing audience love. Morning shows started at 15.91%, afternoon jumped to 30.82%, evening to 43.11%, and the night shows peaked at 49.59% in Karnataka. Clearly, word of mouth is working its magic.

Though daily domestic earnings haven’t quite toppled Chhaava yet—Chhaava bagged Rs 18 crore on its second Monday—Kantara 2 is already the second-highest-grossing Indian movie of 2025, beating Mohit Suri’s Ahaan Panday and Aneet Padda-starrer Saiyaara. And if its overseas streak continues? It might just claim the crown for the year.

A prequel to Shetty’s 2022 pan-India hit, Kantara: Chapter 1, this action-packed drama stars Jayaram, Rukmini Vasanth, and Gulshan Devaiah, with Vijay Kiragandur and Chaluve Gowda backing it under Hombale Films.

And in case you’re wondering about the Kannada crown: Kantara 2 is now the second-highest-grossing Kannada film ever, trailing only KGF: Chapter 2.