'Kabzaa' box office: Upendra-Kichcha Sudeep starrer takes sluggish start

The highly-anticipated Kannada gangster drama Kabzaa took to theaters on Friday and was released alongside Hindi movies—Mrs. Chatterjee Vs Norway and Zwigato. Despite being headlined by two of the biggest Sandalwood actors—Upendra and Kichcha Sudeep—the film could not create a massive impact at the box office on the first day of its release. Helmed by R Chandru, Kabzaa was released in five languages.

• Touted as the "next big thing from the Kannada film industry," Kabzaa's advance bookings also opened to a shockingly underwhelming response despite an insane star cast and a hooking plotline.
• On Thursday, several ardent followers of Kannada cinema took to Twitter to show their disappointment with the approach of Kabzaa's team in regard to pre-release publicity and the lack of any energy in promotions.

The makers of Kabzaa did not reportedly make much effort to promote the film outside their comfort zone. As a result, the movie struggled with a poor opening in Hindi and Telugu languages, too. On contrary, the film was well-received in Karnataka, as it witnessed an all-time sixth-highest opening for a Kannada release. Kabzaa grossed Rs. 11.1 crore in the domestic market, per Sacnilk.

Bankrolled by Anand Pandit, Chandru, and Alankar Pandian, Kabzaa stars Sudeep, Upendra, Shriya Saran, Shiva Rajkumar, Nawab Shah, and Murali Sharma, among others. Set in the pre-independence era, the movie follows the life of a notorious gangster who is the son of a freedom fighter who gets trapped in the mafia world. The period actioner was released in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi.

Separately, if reports are to be believed, the OTT rights of the film have already been sold to streaming service giant Amazon Prime Video for a jaw-dropping amount. The rights of all five language versions, along with English subtitles, have been sold for a whopping sum of Rs. 140cr. Reportedly, the action flick has been made on a budget of around Rs. 120 crore.