Vishnu Manchu’s Kannappa takes lead over Kajol’s Maa in morning shows

It’s a clash of genres and star power at the box office today, as two contrasting films — Vishnu Manchu’s mythological action epic Kannappa and Kajol’s mythological horror Maa — hit theatres across India. And going by the initial figures, Kannappa has taken a clear lead in the morning shows.

Early box office data shared by Sacnilk reveals that Kannappa has managed to pull in Rs 1.36 crore from it’s morning shows, while Maa opened with a comparatively modest Rs 31 lakh in the same time. The significant difference in collections highlights how Kannappa has capitalized on its mass appeal, visual scale, and genre advantage to draw in audiences, particularly in the South Indian circuits along with the presence of names like Prabhas, Mohanlal , Kajal Agawal and Akshay Kumar. .

Directed by Mukesh Kumar Singh, Kannappa is a large-scale retelling of the legendary Shaivite devotee, with Vishnu Manchu leading the charge. The film’s larger-than-life portrayal, mythological themes, and slick production have helped it find strong traction among single-screen audiences and in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities.

On the other hand, Maa, featuring Kajol in a poignant mother-centric role, has targeted horror genre fanatics. Its intimate narrative, emotional depth, and performance-driven storytelling are geared more toward multiplex viewers and urban family audiences. However, in terms of sheer footfalls, it appears that Maa is facing an uphill battle on day one but given the genre of the film one would expect a major push with evening and night shows.Maa has been directed by Vishal Furia and backed by Ajay Devgn with pivotal roles played by Ronit Bose Roy , Indraneil Sengupta and Kherin Sharma

While Kannappa has clearly won the first round in morning shows, the day is yet to end and the word of mouth for both films will kick in from afternoon onwards.. For now, it’s Kannappa that has emerged as the early front-runner in this cinematic face-off.