Kantara breaks into the coveted Rs 100 crore club

Rishab Shetty’s film is still running to packed houses in Karnataka in its third week

Rishab Shetty in Kantara

For a film that is based in a small town in coastal Karnataka and focuses on the culture and traditions from that region, the success of Kantara is quite phenomenal. Actor-filmmaker Rishab Shetty’s return to filmmaking after nearly four years opened to positive word-of-mouth publicity on September 30 and has, since then, had a dream run at the box office that is showing no signs of slowing down. The film has been dubbed a divine blockbuster.

Kantara, which was made at a modest budget under Rs 20 crore, was to be released in Kannada only with English subtitles, a decision that Rishab arrived at because of how rooted the story is. The film not only caught the fancy of audiences in Karnataka, but among Kannadigas across the globe too, making it the highest grossing Kannada film in several areas outside of the state. In fact, it was the highest grossing Kannada film in north India by the second weekend.

And now, we hear that after 16 days at the box office, Kantara has broken into the coveted Rs 100 crore club. This, according to trade tracking sites, is a gross figure and the net collection will still only be in the double digits. However, they reckon that even the net collection will be in three figures by the end of next week.

Fans have been wondering if Kantara will break the Karnataka box office record of KGF: Chapter 1, and going by the current trend, that looks like a not-too-distant possibility. Of its Rs 250 crore estimated lifetime collection, about half came from the Kannada version for KGF1. Given that Kantara’s footfalls are rivalling those of KGF: Chapter 2, which was an even more monstrous hit, it will close in on KGF1’s figures, but in due course of time, given that it did not release with hiked ticket prices.

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