Image via Hombale Films
By
Rahul Malhotra
Published 34 minutes ago
Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.
He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.
Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him). Sign in to your Collider account Summary Generate a summary of this story follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recapA blockbuster fantasy epic is blowing up on streaming, but chances are, you've never heard of it. The Indian Kannada-language film Kantara: A Legend — Chapter 1 was released theatrically earlier this year, and as expected, it went on to become the country's biggest box office hit of 2025. Kantara: A Legend serves as a prequel to the word-of-mouth sensation Kantara, which was released in 2022. Set in the forests of the southern Indian region of Karnataka, the film explored ancient traditions and mystical customs. Even for audiences in the same country — mainly audiences from the north — the first Kantara served as a window to an entirely unknown community. By the time the hotly-anticipated prequel debuted, the entire country was primed to experience what director-star Rishab Shetty had been cooking for three years. Such has been the film's impact that it had no difficulty in breaking into Prime Video's global charts after its home video debut.
While the fourth season of Netflix's The Witcher came and went, the Indian film landed spots on Prime Video's global top 10 charts earlier this week. Released theatrically in October, Kantara: A Legend went on to gross over $100 million at the global box office, more than twice the lifetime haul of its predecessor. The first film was a mini-budget blockbuster, grossing around $40 million worldwide. The new film was given a much larger budget. Also set in the forests of Karnataka, Kantara: A Legend tells the origins of the mystical ritual shown in the previous movie, the ritual that caused men to disappear into a mysterious circle in the forest. The film also introduces several gods and goddesses known as "daivas," who manifest before the protagonist. In many ways, the film's themes of environmentalism, protecting one's cultural identity, and staying true to one's roots, make it a great companion piece to James Cameron's Avatar series.
'Kantara: A Legend' Has Beaten Several Hollywood Hits at the Box Office
On the 2025 global box office charts, Kantara: A Legend has generated more revenue than films such as Jason Statham's A Working Man, the Rami Malek-led espionage thriller The Amateur, and even the recent Colleen Hoover adaptation Regretting You. The movie opened to mostly positive reviews, and is sitting at an 85% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. It also holds a "verified hot" 92% audience score on the website, where the consensus reads, "A spectacularly bold action epic rooted in folklore, Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 is an extraordinary feat of world-building that may have soared even higher with a tighter narrative focus." You can watch the film (in multiple Indian languages, with the original being Kannada) on Prime Video, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
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