Kantara box office: Telugu version grosses ₹16 crore; set to overtake KGF 1’s lifetime collection in AP, Telangana

Kantara box office: The Telugu version of the Rishab Shetty film is expected to surpass the lifetime collections of KGF: Chapter 1 in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Kannada film Kantara, which is having a dream run at the box office, was dubbed and released in Telugu, Hindi and Tamil last week. In Telugu states, the film has grossed ₹16 crore and continues to run in packed theatres, as per trade sources. By the end of its second weekend, the Rishab Shetty-directorial is expected to surpass the lifetime collections of KGF: Chapter 1 in the Telugu states. The film had made ₹24 crore.

Kantara box office: The film's Telugu version is is expected to surpass the lifetime collections of KGF: Chapter 1 in the Telugu states.

Kantara, which translates to mystical forest, tells the story of a local demigod (Bhoota), who trades forest land with a king in 1870 in exchange for happiness. Many years later, when the king’s son grows greedy and wants the land back, he dies due to the wrath of Bhoota.

As per box office tracking portal Andhra Box Office, the Telugu version of Kantara is having a solid run in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and is on its way to overtake the lifetime collections of KGF 1. “Kantara Telugu (version): Another good day for the film. The overall production budget of ₹8 crore has already been recovered from AP (Andhra Pradesh) and TS (Telangana) alone with ₹16 crore approx gross in four days. This will cross KGF: Chapter 1’s ( ₹24 crore) closing gross easily here in second weekend,” it tweeted.

In the Telugu states, Kantara released in over 400 screens. The Telugu version was sold for ₹2 crore, which the film recovered from its first day. It has already earned profits for the buyer. Kantara released alongside Mani Ratnam’s magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan: I, and still managed to perform well at the box office. The film also stars Kishore, Achyuth Kumar, Sapthami Gowda and Pramod Shetty among others. Apart from directing, Rishabh also played the lead character.