Box office On the first day of its release,
KGF: Chapter 1 collected worldwide, which was the highest opening in the
Kannada cinema. In Karnataka's capital
Bengaluru alone, the film earned about on the first day. The film registered a gross of at the worldwide box office on its first three days, becoming the fastest Kannada film to gross . The film grossed around worldwide in the first week of its release, becoming the first Kannada film to gross . On 9 January 2019, trade analysts announced that the film entered the mark, thus becoming the first Kannada film to do so. It went on to gross around
India On the first day of release,
KGF: Chapter 1 collected net at the domestic box office. The Hindi version raked in more than at the box office on the first day. On the second day, the film outdid its first day totals, with a worldwide total of . whereas the Hindi-dubbed version collected over . On the fourth day, the film collected approximately while the Hindi version saw a jump of 45% on Monday. On 25 December 2018, the film saw a steep incline on the box office due to the
Christmas holidays, collecting more than upon release. The fifth day totals stood at up to . The film collected more than at the domestic box office in the first week of release. After ten days, the film had collected from Karnataka, from
Kerala, from
Tamil Nadu, and from Telugu-speaking states. The film entered the mark in Karnataka on the fifteenth day of box office, thus becoming the first film in Karnataka to do so. It collected over in Karnataka, becoming the highest-grossing film in that state, and beating the previous record set by
Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The film collected in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, in Kerala, and in Tamil Nadu; the film earned more than across theatres across South India. Its Hindi version earned more than ; it became the fourth-highest grossing Hindi-dubbed film after the
Baahubali franchise and
2.0 of the that time. The film earned more than at the domestic box office.
Other territories Premiering at more than 100 theatres in 50 locations,
K.G.F became the fastest Kannada film to cross $200k and $300k in the United States box office. As of 25 December, the film earned $413,214, becoming the first Kannada film to earn $400k at the box office. Within the end of the first week,
K.G.F collected more than $522,848 at the box office, becoming the first
Sandalwood film to cross a half million ($500k) dollars in
United States. During the second weekend, the film grossed $146,207, to take its total tally to $669,055, and it crossed the $700k mark within the second week. Thereafter, the tally saw a normal dip and the film ended its lifetime total at $805,637 in the country. Apart from the US, the film collected £22,656 in
United Kingdom, $9,539 in
New Zealand, and RM 11,406 in
Malaysia, While its story plot, cinematography, action sequences, music, narration, direction and cast performances of the
ensemble cast received acclaim, critics had mixed comments about the screenplay and editing. However the film's dialogues became famous worldwide, especially Yash and Anant Nag's dialogues. Reviewing for
Deccan Herald, Vivek M. V. felt that the "grandeur" lay in the film's "fantastically gripping story". He praised the film's narration, its "brilliant" editing, and "riveting sequences". Sunayana Suresh of
The Times of India gave the film rating of stars out of five, writing that it had a "fast-paced first half ... but the second half and the climax sets up the right premise for the second part of the film." She called the screenplay's "non-linear" fashion the "most interesting part of the film". She commended Yash's performance, in that he "lives his character to the fullest". Troy Ribeiro of
News18 echoed her sentiment, writing, "Yash's endurance, strife and sincerity ... get projected as perfunctory" in the context of "tight close-ups and mid-shots the camera stops us from getting emotionally connected to" every actor in the film. He further wrote, "With intense atmospheric lighting, every frame in the film looks aesthetic and natural. Brilliant cinematography and equally challenging action sequences are put together with razor-sharp edits. They give the film a racy pace." Priyanka Sundar of
Hindustan Times called the film a "story of greed and redemption" that "burns bright". While praising the "promising" background score, "sharp" editing, and "stunning" visuals, she felt that the screenplay could have been "tighter". Janani K. of
India Today felt the film was "dragged and over-stretched", and gave it a three out of five-star rating. While she commended Yash's "extraordinary performance" and the "brilliantly choreographed stunt sequences", she wrote that despite having "universal theme, [the film] gets lost in translation, thanks to sloppy editing and atrocious dialogues." Subha J. Rao of
Firstpost gave the film a similar rating, and praised the film's music, cinematography, and art direction, particularly the latter in "bringing alive the grime and heat of the gold mines". However, she felt "[t]ighter editing ... would have smoothened out the kinks" in the film. Shashiprasad S. M. of
Deccan Chronicle scored the film stars out of five, describing the film as "a visual spectacle". Barring that, he felt it fell short of "instilling the much-needed life into it." Karthik Keramalu of
Film Companion felt that the film fell short of "becoming a great movie by a long mile". He dismissed the dialogue delivered by Yash's character as a "lengthy sermon about his own valour", while also criticizing the film's editing. Excluding what he described the film's climax as "spectacular with the support of a brilliant cast" and "spot-on" sets and location, Muralidhara Khajane of
The Hindu felt there was "nothing in the film that we have not seen before". While writing that "[t]here is a certain finesse to the edgy, moody cinematography", he concluded that the film lacked a "soul, a believable story, and a rounded protagonist." Manoj Kumar R. of
The Indian Express scored the film stars out of five, deeming it "[a]n overstretched exercise in hero worship". While drawing comparisons of certain scenes to those from
Baahubali, he felt the film had a "flimsy storyline", which he added was made up for by its "terrific background orchestra". Also writing for the same news publication, Shubhra Gupta drew comparisons of the film in plot to those of
Nayakan,
Deewaar, and
Parinda in its first half. She felt that the film had "nothing more" than "striking cinematography, and the brown and sepia colours which suffuse the screen." The character of Rocky was well received by critics. Janani K. of
India Today said that "You take a look at [Rocky] and instantly you know that this guy will do the impossible and pull people out of their misery." Sunaina Suresh of
The Times of India said that "The growth of Rocky is shown steadily and the makers kept a clever story telling pattern right through that keeps pace with the narrative." Suresh further added: "The first chapter shows Rocky as the maverick mastermind who will stop at nothing in order to achieve his mission." Troy Ribeiro of
News18 said that "Rocky is the new Superhero in the town." ==Accolades==