Dulquer Salmaan’s much-anticipated period drama Kaantha hit theatres on Friday (November 14), but the film has started off on a surprisingly slow note.
Though technically a Tamil film, Kaantha has been released simultaneously in Telugu as well, and comes with a strong cast featuring Samuthirakani, Rana Daggubati and Bhagyashri Borse, under the direction of Selvamani Selvaraj.
Despite the buzz around Dulquer and the film’s gritty premise, the opening numbers have been underwhelming.
Early estimates suggest that Kaantha has collected around ₹4 crore India nett on Day 1, with Tamil contributing ₹2.5 crore and Telugu bringing in around ₹1.5 crore across all languages.
In terms of footfalls, the film has registered modest occupancy on Friday.
Tamil occupancy stood at 21.68%, while Telugu occupancy was slightly lower at 19.46%.
Kaantha’s Day 1 Telugu occupancy remained modest throughout the day, with morning shows at 16.35%, afternoon shows rising slightly to 19.92%, evening shows dipping to 17.80%, and night shows showing a mild improvement at 23.76%.
While Dulquer Salmaan’s star power ensured some initial attention, the lackluster opening suggests that Kaantha will depend heavily on word-of-mouth and weekend jumps to improve its box office trajectory.
Whether the film can pick up momentum over Saturday and Sunday remains to be seen.
