Kantara Chapter 1 Storms Box Office, Leaving Bollywood and Telugu Films to Struggle

Mumbai: As of Wednesday, October 16, 2025, the Indian box office is seeing a major power shift. Rishab Shetty’s Kannada-language film, Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1, is dominating the screens across the country. This prequel has become a massive Pan-India hit. Its huge success is hitting the collections of other big-budget movies.

Films like the Bollywood releases Jolly LLB 3, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, and the Telugu action film OG (They Call Him OG) are all struggling badly. The audience is clearly choosing the folklore-action film from the South.

Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1’s Dream Run

Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1 released on October 2, 2025. It opened on a huge national holiday, which helped its start. The film earned an incredible ₹61.85 crore (net India collection) on its first day. Since then, its box office run has been historic.

In just about two weeks, the movie has already crossed the ₹475 crore mark in India. Its worldwide gross collection is also nearing a staggering ₹700 crore.

This makes it one of the biggest Indian blockbusters of the year. The film is getting praise for its strong story, amazing visuals, and the powerful performance of Rishab Shetty, who is also the director.

Bollywood Films Face a Tough Fight

The competition from Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1 has severely affected the collections of the Hindi films running in theatres.

Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari (SSKTK) Box Office

Varun Dhawan and Janhvi Kapoor’s romantic comedy, Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari, released on the very same day as Kantara. This clash has been very bad for the Bollywood movie.

In about 15 days, the film has only managed to collect a little over ₹54.8 crore (net India collection). This is a very low number for a movie starring big Bollywood names. On Day 15, the film reportedly earned just about ₹0.7 crore. Trade experts say this romantic film has been completely “crushed” by the pan-India wave of the Kannada blockbuster.

Jolly LLB 3 Box Office

Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi’s courtroom comedy, Jolly LLB 3, was released earlier, on September 19, 2025. Even though it is a popular franchise, the new release of Kantara has slowed down its run drastically.

By its 27th day, the film’s total net collection in India is around ₹114 crore. This is a decent total, but its daily earnings have fallen to mere lakhs of rupees. On its 28th day, the film collected only around ₹0.25 crore. The lack of screens and the huge public interest in Kantara mean this legal drama is struggling to grow its numbers further.

Telugu Star Pawan Kalyan’s Film Also Affected

The effect of Kantara: A Legend, Chapter 1, is not limited to Bollywood alone. The Telugu action thriller, They Call Him OG, starring superstar Pawan Kalyan, has also slowed down.

The film, which had a strong start, is now seeing very low collections. On its 21st day, the movie collected only around ₹0.36 crore. Its total collection stands at approximately ₹192 crore. This is a decent number, but the film’s speed has reduced a lot because of the constant success of the Rishab Shetty film.

The Takeaway for the Film Industry

The box office numbers clearly show that the audience is now giving more importance to good content, no matter the language. Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1, a regional film that became a national phenomenon, has set a new benchmark.

It proves that strong storytelling and cultural roots can beat the star power and big budgets of other films. The makers of Bollywood and Telugu films must now think hard about their release strategies. They need to find a way to compete with such unexpected big hits from other regional industries.