Kantara Chapter 1 Overtakes Chhaava As 2025’s Top-Grossing Film
Updated on: 23 October, 2025 04:41 PM IST |Shweta Shah
Rishab Shetty Creates History with Kantara Chapter 1
The film Kantara Chapter 1, directed by and starring Rishab Shetty, has now officially claimed the crown as the highest-grossing Indian film of 2025.
According to studio numbers, it surpassed the 800 crore mark worldwide — outperforming its rival and previously top film of the year, Chhaava.
A New Box-Office Champion
For a long time, Chhaava held the benchmark for 2025’s box-office haul with approximately 807 crore in collections. But Kantara Chapter 1 surged ahead. The makers announced that in just its first two weeks, the film earned around 717 crore globally.
Also Read: Kantara Star Gulshan Devaiah Opens Up On Bollywood vs South Debate
By its third week, the film continued scaling quickly—adding an extra 38 crore net in India in one weekend and about 92 crore gross in six days worldwide, pushing the total to roughly 809 crore.
It’s worth noting, however, that some other box-office trackers provide slightly lower figures — for instance, one source estimated about 775 crore worldwide after 21 days.
What Makes Kantara Chapter 1 Tick?
Kantara Chapter 1 is a period-action film written and directed by Rishab Shetty, who also plays the lead.
It serves as the prequel to the 2022 blockbuster Kantara and has already stamped its place in Kannada-cinema history by becoming the second-highest-grossing Kannada film ever (behind K.G.F: Chapter 2).
The cast also includes actors like Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram and Gulshan Devaiah. The combination of Rishab’s directorial vision, a compelling narrative rooted in culture and myth, and strong word-of-mouth made the film a runaway hit—not just regionally but across India and overseas.
Placing in the 2025 Big League
In the list of 2025’s top Indian films by box-office collection, Kantara Chapter 1 now sits at the top. Chhaava follows close behind.
After them come films like Saiyaara (576 crore) and Coolie (over 500 crore) from other Indian-cinema industries.
This achievement is especially noteworthy, considering that the film is primarily Kannada-language and yet managed to break through language and regional barriers to become a nationwide phenomenon.
Why this matters?
Kantara Chapter 1’s success signals a shift: high-quality regional films with strong stories can no longer be niche—they can compete head-on with mainstream pan-India releases.
It also shows the growing appetite among Indian audiences for innovative cinema beyond the usual formulas. For Rishab Shetty, this is a massive milestone not just as an actor but as a filmmaker.
In short: Kantara Chapter 1 didn’t just break box-office numbers—it broke expectations.
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