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Kantara: Chapter 1 is a prequel to the 2022 Kannada Blockbuster Kantara. Part 1 left a solid impression on the audience and the film grossed over 300 crore after opening to just 2 crores on Day 1. This time, Rishab Shetty returns with a period setup, mounted on a huge scale, with a massive budget of a staggering 175 crore. The kantara chapter 1 release date is 2 October 2025, landing on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra. The Kantara OTT release date will be revealed soon as it is expected to release digitally just 4 weeks after its theatrical release date.
Note – Our exclusive review on Inside Box Office talks about the Hindi version of the film.
What is the Plot of Kantara Chapter 1?
Kantara Legend Chapter 1 begins exactly where the 2022 film ends. The film revolves around the Kadamba dynasty and their desire to gain control over the forest that has a lot to offer in terms of raw materials for trade. The king of Bangra, Vijayendra, visits the forest in search of precious spices but gets killed after which his son Rajashekara (Jayaram) takes over the kingdom. In Kantara village, Berme (Rishab Shetty) is a child who grows up to become a trader of the spices currently being exploited by Rajashekara. As Berme and princess Kanakavathi (Rukmini Vasanth) fall in love with each other, the new king and Kanakavathi’s brother, Kulashekara (Gulshan Devaiah) wants to punish Berme and his Kantara tribe due to his independent cultivation and trade of those precious spices.
All About Kantara Chapter 1
Ratings of They Call Him OG : | IMDb Rating: 8.6/10 |
Cast: | Rukmini Vasanth, Rishab Shetty, Gulshan Devaiah, Jayaram, Rakesh Poojari, Pramod Shetty |
Songs: | Varaha Roopam Daiva Va Rishtam, Karma Song, Kantara Chapter-1 Theme, Rebel Song |
Movie Duration: | 2 hours 49 minutes |
Date on Screen (in Cinemas): | 2 October 2025 |
Release Year: | October 2025 |
Streaming on OTT/Movie Channel/YouTube: | Amazon Prime Video |
Trailers/Clips: | 12 October 2025 |
Director: | Rishab Shetty |
Dialogues Writer: | Rishab Shetty |
Screenplay: | Rishab Shetty |
Music Director: | B. Ajaneesh Loknath |
Genre: | Action/Thriller |
Visual/VFX Supervisor: | N/A |
What is The kantara chapter 1 Rating?
Inside Box Office Rating: 3.0/5
Budget: Rs 175 crore
Total box office: Currently in Cinemas
IBO Verdict: Currently in Cinemas
What Are The Merits of Kantara Chapter 1?
Starting with the plot of Kantara Chapter 1, it along with the screenwriting succeeds in catching the interest of the audience and Rishab Shetty has done a great job in directing this movie. The three blocks of the film – introduction, pre-interval, and climax – play a major role in overshadowing everything poor in the film and influencing our overall rating of the film. Overall, Kantara Chapter 1 is highly engaging and keeps you surrounded by unpredictability at every moment. Most importantly, the film delivers exactly what it has promised since the start from the Kantara Chapter 1 teaser and trailer. Even the scenes portraying the gods are made impactful and kept true to their roots as those scenes show the use of an un-dubbed Tulu language.
Additionally, the technical richness of the movie is clearly visible throughout its run time. The top notch VFX and the many stunning frames of the film show the efforts put in by Rishab Shetty and team during the making. Cinematographer Arvind S Kashyap has done a great job in the film’s cinematography which gives meaning to a lot of thrilling scenes throughout the movie. As of the BGM, like majorly every South Indian film nowadays, the background score of Kantara Chapter 1 by B. Ajaneesh Loknath makes even the simplest of the scenes very powerful and appealing.
What Are The Demerits of Kantara Chapter 1?
As you might have guessed from our rating, Rishab Shetty Kantara Chapter 1 is not a perfect film but has several flaws too. The major flaws of the movie arise due to the fillers in its otherwise great plot. These fillers include a lot of screen time being taken up by unpopular supporting cast, at least for the Hindi audience, along with unnecessary action sequences. The team had a chance to trim such sequences which they missed out in and compromised with the overall quality of the movie.
As of the use of Tulu language in the movie, the subtitles end up being really confusing and dilute whatever impact the scene would have otherwise left upon the audience. Another major flaw of Kantara Chapter 1 is its inconsistent writing and pacing issues. As we earlier said, the film is engaging but it also loses that engagement at several moments due to the many unnecessarily dragged sequences as explained earlier. The VFX falters a little at many moments but that can be ignored as it is compensated for by the BGM.
How Are The Performances of The Cast of Kantara Chapter 1?
The complete cast of the movie, leading as well as supporting has done a fantastic job. Rishab Shetty has done a highly appreciable job. Gulshan Devaiah and Rukmini Vasanth’s screen presence highly elevate the film. Jayaram has shown a great performance too. As of the supporting cast of the movie, they are overall fine in carrying the movie.
Box Office Analysis
Kantara Chapter 1 is a box office appealing machine. The Kantara day box office collection
Shows that the film is running well enough in theaters, not exactly what the trade had expected, but not showing a poor performance too. The producers of the film made a lot of profit by selling its rights being dependent on the blockbuster trending of Kantara (2022). The film is incurring losses at several overseas territories which can be compensated by the profits and goodwill of the movie and its overall franchise as the rights for the movie at really huge and profitable prices for the producers.
The Hindi Kantara legend chapter 1 advance booking was decent, certainly not on the level of earlier pan India sequels like KGF 2, Baahubali 2, Pushpa 2, etc. As the trade was hyped to see a response similar to these titles, they ended up being disappointed.
The Hindi version of the film is currently having a strong run and is competing with most of the other original titles of Bollywood besides Chhaava and Saiyaara. However, due to the massive pre-release expectations and the high price it was sold at, the Kantara Chapter 1 box office collection in Hindi feels just decent even though Kantara film box office collection (Hindi) shows blockbuster results. As of its total collection, it has grossed over Rs 500 crore at the Indian box office as per Inside Box Office (IBO) tracking and this is a rare feat as only 15 Indian films have done this before. You can view the detailed Kantara Chapter 1 box office details on our website.
