Dhruva Sarja’s KD: The Devil has managed to bring the biggest Kannada opening of 2026, but the numbers are far from enough to ignite the box office! The period drama had a good hype before its release; however, the ground reality does not paint a good picture! On one hand, the film has comfortably snatched the title of the biggest Kannada opener of 2026; on the other, it has failed to even come close to the benchmarks set by Sarja himself in the past.
Dhruva Sarja’s Last Opening
2026 has been a sluggish year for the Kannada film industry, with several releases struggling to even cross the 1-crore mark on opening day. In this drought, Dhruva Sarja is acting as the temporary savior at the box office. His last release was Martin in 2024, which opened with a net collection of 6.3 crore in India.
KD: The Devil Box Office Day 1 Estimates
According to early trends, KD: The Devil has collected 1.71 crore until 8 PM, and it is expected to wrap up its Day 1 in the range of 2 – 2.2 crore. While this secures the #1 spot for the year, it is still not a celebration for the actor as it suggests only 34% of his last film, Martin’s, opening day.
Here are the top 5 Kannada openings of 2026 at the box office (India Net Collection).
- KD The Devil: 2 – 2.2 crore*
- Love Mocktail 3: 1.36 crore
- Cult: 53 lakh
- Landlord: 52 lakh
- Rakkasapuradol: 27 lakh
* denotes estimated numbers
The film hasn’t been able to convert the pre-release buzz into ticket sales. With an average occupancy of 21.58% throughout the day, it is heavily dependent on the night shows and the weekend jump.
Check out the box office collection and latest verdicts of Kannada Films of 2026 here.
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