Rishab Shetty’s Kantara is what you call a ‘dark horse’. The film, made on a relatively modest budget of Rs 15 crore (approx), has now become the second highest grosser of Kannada cinema — only behind KGF: Chapter 2 (Rs 1200 crore). According to reports, the worldwide box office collection of the film has zoomed past Rs 250 crore mark, making it the third Kannada film ever (after the KGF series) to unlock such an achievement.
Speaking to Indian Express, trade analyst Ramesh Bala revealed that the film is continuing its run in Tamil Nadu and the Hindi belt. As far as the numbers go, the country-wide collections of the film is hovering at around Rs 200 crore. On the other hand, the Hindi version of the film, which was released on October 14, has minted about Rs 40 crore, and is expected to top Rs 50 crore. Similarly, the Telugu version of the film has earned more than Rs 32 crore.
On top of the box office success, Rishab Shetty is also receiving appreciation from several quarters. He recently met Superstar Rajinikanth at his Chennai residence. Pictures of the Tamil actor honouring Rishab were shared by the Kantara star on social media.
Parallelly, Kantara is also facing legal trouble as a Sessions Court in Kerala has released an injunction ordering the makers to not play the song “Varaha Roopam” in the film and other streaming platforms. The injunction is the result of a case filed by Kerala-based music band Thaikkudam Bridge, which has claimed that the Kannada song is plagiarised version of their 2015 song “Navarasam.”
Also starring Sapthami Gowda, Kishore, and Achyuth Kumar, Kantara is produced by Hombale Films, the production house of KGF films. The film has music by B. Ajaneesh Loknath.
