Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1’ has achieved remarkable success, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2025 with ₹603.4 crore. Its Hindi version alone garnered ₹212.67 crore in 30 days, surpassing ‘Bharat’. Despite a dip on its 30th day, the film’s extended theatrical run before its OTT release is a significant industry talking point.
Rishab Shetty’s Kantara: A Legend Chapter 1 has had a stellar run at the box office as it has become the highest grossing film of 2025 with an overall collection of Rs 603.4 crore and the 8th biggest hit of Indian Cinema. A close look at the overall collection reveals that its Hindi version has been the major engine of its collection as it has contributed Rs 212.67 crore to its collection in just 30 days. On the 30th day the film collected Rs 1.12 crore- making it its lowest ever collection in its month-long run at the box office. But even with that Kantara 2 has gone past the lifetime collection of Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif and Ali Abbas Zafar’s Bharat which had a lifetime haul of Rs 212.03 crore , making it the 38th biggest hit of Hindi cinema. One of the reasons for the lowest ever Hindi collection of the film could be that the film is not available on a streaming platform from Friday onwards. Though the film is available only in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam versions, the pandemic has taught the people to overlook the language barrier and enjoy films for what they are. The Hindi version of the film is said to hit the streaming platform only after the film completes 8 weeks in cinema halls.
The decision to release the film within its first month of release despite setting box office records has sent shivers down the industry. Though the common business rule is that films from South India will hit OTT platforms after 4 weeks but Lokah: Chapter 1- Chandra was able to hold its off for almost 8 weeks and it had earned ¼ of Kantara 2’s collection. Kantara 2 had the potential to cross Rs 640 crore mark but now with its OTT release, the number looks extremely difficult. The film also featured Gulshan Devaiah, Rukmini Vasanth and Jayaram in leading roles.
