Made in Rs 16 crore, this film earned Rs 408 crore, broke several box office records, its climax surprised everyone

From the 2024 Malayalam survival thriller Manjummel Boys to the 2022 Tamil romantic comedy Love Today, there have been multiple low-budget regional films that have earned hundreds of crore at the box office. Another addition to this list is the 2022 Kannada-language action drama Kantara.

Headlined and helmed by Rishab Shetty, Kantara showcased Bhoota Kola, the divine and spiritual performance from the coastal Karnataka, to the entire world. The film's universal theme of man vs nature conflict resonated with the hearts of the audiences and even multiple film celebrities. Kamal Haasan, Prabhas, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Dhanush, Hrithik Roshan, Prashanth Neel, Raj & DK and many other actors and directors showered their praises on Kantara on social media. 

The film's goosebumps-inducing climax sequence, in which Rishab Shetty's leading character of Shiva gets possessed by Panjurli Daiva, surprised each and every viewer. Apart from Rishab Shetty, the Kannada-language action drama also starred Sapthami Gowda, Kishore, Achyuth Kumar, Pramod Shetty and Prakash Thuminad in pivotal roles. 

After Kantara received a thunderous response in its original Kannada version, the production house Hombale Films dubbed the film into Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam languages, and each of the dubbed versions recieved tremendous love from the audiences. Made in just Rs 16 crore, Kantara earned Rs 310 crore net in India and grossed Rs 408 crore worldwide (as per the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk).

The Rishab Shetty directorial also broke several box office records, and became the second highest-grossing Kannada film of all time, surpassing the 2018 actioner KGF Chapter 1. KGF Chapter 2, released in the same year as Kantara in 2022, is the highest-grossing Kannada film and the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of all time with worldwide gross collections of Rs 1250 crore.

After the blockbuster success of Kantara, a prequel titled Kantara: Chapter 1 was announced in February 2023 and is currently being shot. Directed by and starring Rishab Shetty, Kantara: Chapter 1 is slated to release in 2025 in Kannada, Hindi, Telugu Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali and English languages.

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