Korean Kanakaraju Box Office Collection: Varun Tej’s Indo-Korean Horror-Comedy Wins Praise, Mints 6.50Cr Gross on Day 1

Varun Tej’s “Korean Kanakaraju” has hit the theatres on Aug. 7, 2026, winning praise from early viewers. Helmed by Merlapaka Gandhi, the Indo-Korean horror comedy has opened with a decent response at the box office in India and worldwide on Day 1. According to Sacnilk, on Day 1, the film collected Rs 3.95 crore net by running across 1,656 shows. 

Korean Kanakaraju Review on X and Box Office Collection

“Korean Kanakaraju” saw its strongest audience turnout during the night shows, while Andhra Pradesh and Telangana emerged as its biggest contributors. As per trade analyst Sacnilk, the morning shows recorded 27.83 percent occupancy, while afternoon and evening shows stood at 38 percent, and the night shows recorded around 57.42 percent occupancy. As of Day 2, 1 PM IST, it raked in Rs 71 lakhs, bringing the total gross collections to Rs 5.34 crore.

Taking to social media, early viewers described “Korean Kanakaraju” as a decent horror-comedy thriller. Besides Varun Tej, the Telugu horror-comedy also stars Ritika Nayak and Satya in the key roles. A user took to X writing, “Decent horror comedy thriller….Satya steals the show🙏🙏🙏 video call sequence in 2nd half is blast, audience were out of there seats…. finally annagari reference is one more blast, thaman BGM is good at parts.” Another wrote, “#KoreanKanakaraju Short Review: Okayish Entertainer #Satya Comedy Worked Well #VarunTej Was Stylish Looking & Decent #Thaman Music & BGM Are Okk Overall Average Entertainer My Rating: 2.75/5” One of the fans shared, “One of the best Film in VarunTej career Sathya comedy scenes worked well onscreen. Thaman bg score top notch. Expect cheyaledhu kani theatre antha full aipoyindi. congrats Anna @IAmVarunTej.”