King of Kotha box office prediction: What's the expected haul for Dulquer Salmaan film?

King of Kotha is going to be another foray from Dulquer Salmaan on a pan-India level. After the success of his 2022 film Sita Ramam, Salmaan is entering the nationwide eye in an action-driven avatar similar to that of Allu Arjun in Pushpa. But will King of Kotha turn out to be a hit, or will it enter the ever-growing abyss of mediocre films that get forgotten as quickly as they become popular?

3 things you need to know: 

• King of Kotha is going to release countrywide on August 24, 2023. 
• Salmaan will be appearing alongside Ritika Singh, Aishwarya Lekshmi, and Shabeer Kallarakkal in the film. 
• KOK is expected to be a massive entry at the Kerala box office.

King of Kotha to break records at Kerala box office?

While speaking with Republic Digital, trade analyst Sumit Kadel said that the film is likely to bring in Rs 15-16 crore net (Rs 18-20 crore gross) throughout India on its opening day. He said that the film would bring in Rs 10 crore (gross) at the Kerala box office, which would mean that it would break the record of Rs 7.5 crore opening held by Yash-starrer KGF Chapter 2. 

(Dulquer Salmaan in a still from the King of Kotha trailer | Image: dqsalmaan/Instagram)

“I can bet that King of Kotha will end up being the biggest Kerala box office opener to date,” said Kadel. “The last one was KGF 2, which earned around Rs 7.5 crore on day 1. King of Kotha might do Rs 10 crore (in gross). In AP/TG box office it’ll go above Rs 10 crore. Overall, it’ll be the Rs 18-20 crore gross (Rs 15-16 crore).

Analyst Ramesh Bala, on the other hand, said that the film might be making Rs 15 crore gross (approx Rs 12 crore net) on its opening day throughout the country. “It may score Rs 15 crores in all of India, said Bala. He added, “For the break up I am looking at Rs 8 crores for Kerala, maybe Rs 2 crores for Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, Rs 2 crores for Karnataka and maybe Rs 1 crore for Tamil Nadu and Rs 1 crore for rest of India.”

Is Dulquer Salmaan ready to be a pan-India star?

Bala, while speaking about Dulquer Salmaan, Ramesh Bala said that he might be a pan-India performer, but he will take some time before reaching the status of Rajinikanth or Prabhas. 

(A poster for King of Kotha featuring Dulquer Salmaan | Image: dqsalmaan/Instagram)

“He is a pan-India actor in terms of his performance, but he is not like Prabhas or Rajinikanth. It will take some time for him to go there. Certainly, a lot of Malayalis will go and watch the King of Kotha.” 

Kadel contrasted this by saying, “Dulquer Salmaan is absolutely ready to be a pan-India actor. He’s one of those rare actors who has done films in several languages. He’s done a Telugu film, Tamil film, and even Hindi projects. He’s a proper pan-India actor.”  He added that his 2022 film Sita Raman was received well in North India as well since it did business of Rs 10 crore despite releasing weeks after its South release.