3 min readHyderabadMay 1, 2026 09:24 AM IST
Kara box office collection day 1: Dhanush’s much-awaited Tamil thriller Kara made its way to theatres on Thursday, riding on strong pre-release buzz and decent advance bookings.The slow-burn thriller format, set against the backdrop of 1991 Ramanathapuram, appeared to find its audience as the day progressed, with later shows doing considerably better than the morning slots. As per box office tracker Sacnilk, the film brought in a net of Rs 5.75 crore on its opening day. India gross for the day stood at Rs 6.64 crore, with overseas adding Rs 2.50 crore.
The film opened in Tamil and Telugu. The Tamil version accounted for Rs 4.65 crore net from 2,866 shows, while Telugu contributed Rs 1.10 crore from 1,306 shows, bringing the total show count in India to 4,172. Overall Tamil occupancy for the day came in at 24.02%, with the day building steadily as it progressed. Morning shows started at 20.38%, afternoon held at 19.92%, evening stayed flat at 20.31%, before night shows jumped to 35.46%, the strongest slot of the day by a significant margin.
On a city level, Chennai was comfortably the best performer with 44.5% overall Tamil occupancy across 500 shows, touching 65% in the night slot. Trichy came in next at 40.3%, followed by Coimbatore, Madurai, and Pondicherry in the 29% to 32% range. In the Telugu markets, Guntur stood out at 30.5% overall, with Vizag at 18.8% and Hyderabad at 17.5% across 291 shows. State-wise, Tamil Nadu led gross collections at Rs 4.75 crore, with Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at Rs 1.25 crore, Karnataka at Rs 0.43 crore, Kerala at Rs 0.15 crore, and the rest of India contributing Rs 0.06 crore.
Also Read: Kara movie review: Dhanush single-handedly carries this slow burn heist thriller
The opening, while not a blockbuster start, is a workable number for a film of this nature. It falls short of what Dhanush’s Idli Kadai managed on day one, but the trajectory through the day and the positive early audience response to its tone and performances give the makers something to build on.
The weekend will now be critical for Kara, directed by Vignesh Raja and featuring Mamitha Baiju, Jayaram, K.S. Ravikumar, Karunas, and Suraj Venjaramoodu in key roles, as sustained footfall over the next two days will determine whether the film has a genuine run at the box office or settles into a quick decline.
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