Kannappa box office collection day 1 early report: Actor Vishnu Manchu’s long-anticipated dream project Kannappa finally hit theatres on Friday. Featuring Vishnu in the titular role, the film also stars heavyweights like Akshay Kumar, Prabhas, and Mohanlal in prominent roles. Leading up to the release, Vishnu undertook a spiritual tour of the 12 Jyotirlingas and emphasised in multiple interviews that Kannappa is not a mythological drama, but a significant chapter from Indian history. However, early reactions suggest that audiences may not entirely share his conviction.
As of 8 pm on release day, the film has earned Rs 6.5 crore at the box office, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. While this is the highest opening for a Vishnu Manchu film, it falls short of expectations for a project of this scale—especially one shot over eight months in New Zealand with a crew of more than 800 people. Despite the presence of Prabhas and Mohanlal, the film has not generated the kind of frenzy typically associated with their solo releases.
Prabhas and Mohanlal in Kannappa. (Photo: Vishnu Manchu/Instagram)
The movie recorded a varied occupancy across languages: 50.45% in Telugu, 16.06% in Tamil, 13.63% in Kannada, 9.53% in Hindi, and just 5.80% in Malayalam. The film has been released across 2,079 screens in India, distributed as follows: 1,081 in Telugu, 522 in Hindi, 294 in Malayalam, 131 in Tamil, and 51 in Kannada.
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Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, Kannappa opened alongside Maa, a horror drama starring Kajol. Promoted as part of Ajay Devgn’s Shaitaan universe, Maa managed to collect Rs 3.21 crore by 8 pm across 2,462 shows—383 more than Kannappa.
The movie opened to mixed reviews on Friday. A part of SCREEN’s review read, “Kannappa is about the trials of faith and how a non-believer sheds his arrogance to embrace personal transformation – so, when the screenplay (also credited to Vishnu) does come to its own for a brief while, it throws up a few pleasant surprises that salvage an otherwise turgid retelling of mythology.”
