Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1’ is soaring toward an impressive Rs 600 crore in box office revenue. Its unexpected OTT drop just 29 days post-release has left many in the industry astonished. While various regional versions are now available, the Hindi edition is still under wraps, which could potentially lead to an even greater surge in ticket sales.
Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1 is well set on its way to a lifetime collection of over Rs 600 crore making it the biggest film of the year. A few days ago it was suddenly announced that the film would be available on OTT platforms from 31st October- making it a theatrical window of just 29 days. The decision has sent shivers across the industry as the film still had strong legs at the box office and could have easily crossed Rs 650 crore mark. Dulquer Salmaan’s Lokah: Chapter 1- Chandra starring Kalyani Priyadarshan which had a collection of little over Rs 156 crore was able to stay in theaters for over 60 days. The OTT release of Kantara 2 has a small catch: the film would be available in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions. The release of the Hindi version has still not been announced and probably that is the reason, one is seeing a jump in its collection. The film which was released theatrically in 5 languages had Hindi and Kannada as its engines. The Kannada version’s collection now stands at Rs 192.04 crore and Hindi version stands at Rs 209 crore.On 27th day ( Tuesday), the film witnessed a massive 37 % jump from its Monday collection as it minted Rs 2.4 crore, while its Monday collection stood at Rs 1.75 crore. In comparison, the Kannada version’s collection stayed steady with Rs 94 lakh collection on Tuesday and its Monday collection was Rs 95 lakh. The decision to release the OTT is still a mystery for most people, but at this point one can still hope the film will continue its theatrical run concurrently. It has happened in the case of many films, recent example being Mahavatar Narsimha. Kantara 2 features Gulshan Devaiah, Jayaram and Rakimini Vasanth in pivotal roles, the makers have also announced the third part with the climax of the second part.
