Thanks to positive word-of-mouth reviews and ratings, Dulquer Salmaan's latest film Kaantha is off to a mighty start. Directed by Selvamani Selvaraj, the period drama has earned over Rs 10.5 crore worldwide out of which it collected Rs 4 crore from India. The film, also headlined by Samuthirakani, Bhagyashri Borse and Rana Daggubati, had an overall 21.68 per cent Tamil occupancy on its opening day on Friday. Its night shows showed significantly higher footfall with 34.44 per cent.
Chennai, Puducherry and Kochi were the top three cities in terms of occupancy, registering 29.50 per cent, 33.75 per cent and 31.50 per cent respectively.
Our CE review of the film by Avinash Ramachandran read, "While we feel enamoured by the visual grandeur of this world, one can’t help but feel a sense of exhaustion from the world-building that might even make one forget that the film began with a murder. Kaantha goes to so many places that the cold-blooded murder gets buried under the visual and aural splendour, and performances that you can’t take your eyes off."
Kaantha also features Ravindra Vijay, Nizhalgal Ravi, Bagavathi Perumal and Bijesh Nagesh in key roles. The film is jointly produced by Rana Daggubati and Dulquer Salmaan under their Spirit Media and Wayfarer Films banners respectively. Kaantha, which marks a comeback into Tamil cinema for Dulquer after 2022's Hey Sinamika, is inspired by the rise and fall of MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar, who was widely regarded as Tamil cinema's first superstar.
The film's technical team includes cinematographer Dani Sanchez Lopez, editor Llewellyn Anthony Gonsalvez, composer Jhanu Chanthar, and art director Ramalingam. Thamizh Prabha serves as its additional dialogue writer and story consultant, as well as additional screenwriter along with Sri Harsha Rameshwaram.
