Kantara set to record higher footfalls than KGF: Chapter 2 in Karnataka

In its third week at the box office, Rishab Shetty’s Kantara is showing no signs of slowing down. For instance, in Bengaluru, the film is enjoying a whopping 592 shows per day, and this, say industry experts means that in terms of footfalls, Kantara is on course to beating the record held by Rocking Star Yash’s KGF: Chapter 2.

The difference, they say, is that while KGF2 was a hit among the youth, Kantara has appealed to family audiences, who had hitherto been staying away from theatres. Many are also indulging in repeat watches, given that the film did not open with hiked ticket rates. While Kantara can boast a larger number of audiences across age groups, its box office revenue remains well under that of KGF2 for this reason.

However, despite the normal ticket rates, Kantara is expected to break the lifetime box-office numbers of biggies like KGF: Chapter 1, James, Roberrt, Vikrant Rona, among others in Karnataka or cumulatively in its Kannada version, given that the film was out only in the original version in the first two weeks.

Yesterday, the film’s Hindi version released in a whopping 2,500+ screens, where initial reviews were also positive and better than for Doctor G and Code Name Tiranga. Kantara’s Hindi version is expected to have a good run at the box office, with conservative estimates predicting Rs 40-50 crore gross collections. Today, the Telugu version releases, and booking trends in Andhra and Telangana are also encouraging. Tamil will follow tomorrow, while the Malayalam version will lock horns with Mohanlal’s Monster next week. The buzz in the industry is that Kantara’s lifetime business will be better than that of KGF: Chapter 1, which is reported to have made Rs 250 crore.

The film’s satellite and digital partners were zeroed in prior to the release, with Star Suvarna and Amazon Prime Video getting those credits.