Production notes

Prashanth Neel worked on the film's screenplay after the release of Ugramm (2014), and development of the film began in early 2015. However, he decided to split the film in two parts, as the narration of this story is in a non-linear format, and the decision was also made with the commercial prospects in mind. In an interview with The Times of India in October 2018, he added, "The scale of the project is huge and we had a scope for a beginning, an interval and an end for both parts, so it made sense for us to release it as two parts". As for the decision to make it multilingual, he says that it was because the film is based on a unique idea and has a universal theme. In December 2020, Prashanth Neel said that there were no plans for a third instalment in the K.G.F franchise. Prashanth Neel decided to rope in composer Ravi Basrur and cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda as a part of the technical crew for the second part of the film.

While Yash, Srinidhi Shetty, Vasishta N. Simha, Achyuth Kumar, Malavika Avinash, T.S Nagabharana and other remaining actors from the first part have reprised their respective roles, Sanjay Dutt was roped in for a pivotal role in February 2019. Media rumours that Raveena Tandon would appear in the film started making rounds as early as February 2019. A news report in The Times of India confirmed that Tandon will be seen in a "major role" in the film. Despite Srinidhi becoming a breakout star, post the release of the predecessor, she rejected seven films, in order to start shoot for the film. The makers hosted an audition in April 2019, for aspiring actors who want to become a part of the film's cast. On 29 July 2019, Sanjay Dutt was revealed to be playing the role of the main antagonist Adheera, marking his Kannada debut. He compared his character to Thanos, and revealed that his role was "shown to be a dangerous character with scary makeup" and added that it was a role he was looking for. Raveena Tandon was reported to play the role of Prime Minister Ramika Sen, and stated that "it was a difficult character to portray". Telugu actor Rao Ramesh was cast in a pivotal role in May 2019, and Tamil actor Saran Shakthi was cast in August 2019. On 26 August 2020, when the filming resumed, Prakash Raj was also revealed to be playing an important character.

Before the release of the first part in December 2018, the makers shot 20% of the second part, and the crew went on double shifts until January 2019. On 4 January, it was announced that they have completed 15% of the shooting for the film, and planned to resume the shooting of the film in the summer of 2019. Filming for KGF: Chapter 2 started on 13 March 2019 in Hyderabad, with a formal puja ceremony. After an initial round of filming near Bangalore in May 2019, Yash announced that he will join the sets only in June 2019. The film's shooting started on 4 June at the Lalita Mahal Palace in Mysore, although Yash joined the sets on 6 June. Later the shoot commenced in August 2019 at Cyanide Hills in Kolar Gold Fields. On 28 August 2019, N Srinivas, president of the KGF's National Citizens Party filed a petition against the makers and alleged that the film is being shot in the protected area of cyanide mound and is damaging the nature. The JMFC court has issued an injunction notice to the producer Kiragandur, also ordering to stall the shoot. On 4 September, the producers claimed that the stay order was issued a day before the makers planned to wrap the shoot schedule. The same day, the makers started shooting for the second schedule in Hyderabad. On 25 September 2019, Sanjay Dutt joined the sets of the film in Hyderabad. After winning the court stay order on 27 September, the makers returned to shoot the film at Cyanide Hills. On 14 October 2019, the makers returned to Karnataka, after filming the extensive schedule in Hyderabad. As of 27 January 2020, the makers completed 80% of the shoot. With the schedule being filmed in Mysore, the last leg of shoot was expected to be held in Hyderabad, and then in Bangalore and Kolar. On 3 February 2020, behind-the-scenes video of Yash shooting at the Infosys campus in Mysore went viral. On 10 February, Telugu actor Rao Ramesh joined the sets of the film. Raveena Tandon joined the sets of the film in Mysore on 12 February. After the second schedule of the film held in Mysore got completed, the makers headed to Hyderabad on 21 February. Raveena completed her portions on 28 February. The makers completed major portions in March 2020, with post-production works being kickstarted, but filming came to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in India. Prashanth Neel claimed that Sanjay Dutt had almost completed shooting for the film, and he has pending dubbing work for his role. after Sanjay Dutt was diagnosed with lung cancer and had left for the US for immediate treatment on 12 August 2020. Flming resumed on 26 August 2020 at Bangalore after 5 months. Malavika Avinash and Prakash Raj joined the sets on this schedule. On 7 October 2020, Yash and Srinidhi Shetty resumed the shoot at Mangalore, with the team entering the final leg of shoot. Sanjay Dutt confirmed that he will join the shooting of the film on November, although he resumed the shooting only in December. The climax action scenes were filmed in December 2020 at Hyderabad, which were choreographed by action director Anbariv. On 20 December 2020, the makers announced that the climax scene of the film was completed. KGF: Chapter 2 was produced on a budget of ₹125 crore, and is the most expensive Kannada film.

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 47% of 15 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5/10. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave the film four and a half stars out of five and was appreciative of all major aspects of production, opining that it "has a fresh, international look and doesn't look like a regional film at all." Subha J. Rao of Firstpost gave the film four stars out of five and found the writing and conception to be "far better" than Chapter 1. Sunayana Suresh of The Times of India also gave it four stars out of five and similarly said that "Neel and Yash have managed to deliver a sequel that seems more immersive than the first part." Vivek MV of Deccan Herald rated the film three and a half stars out of five, as did Janani K of India Today, who described the climax as "cathartic and brilliantly shot" but was critical of the uneven pacing throughout. With three stars out of five, Shuklaji of The News Minute wrote, "Despite the few shortcomings, viewers are bound to recall the film forever for its outrageous imagination and incredible technical finesse." Bharathi Pradhan of Lehren gave the film two out of five stars and stated that Rocky was "Don Of Indian Dystopia". Rohit Bhatnagar of The Free Press Journal rated the film two and a half stars out of five and wrote "KGF: Chapter 2 has every possible ingredient to impress the janta, but finding realism is a big no-no". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com gave the film two and a half stars out of five and observed, "Testosterone, not rationale, is the driving force behind the K.G.F franchise," but praised the performances for putting "some muscle on a thin premise," and the production design. Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave one and a half stars out of five and was not impressed with the screenplay or momentum, writing that the film "swings haphazardly between the past and the present." With two and a half stars out of five, Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in gave the film two and a half stars out of five and found the film to be "less chaotic" than Chapter 1, but felt it "continues to suffer from leaps in the time-space continuum." Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV rated it two stars out of five and wrote, "The film is the handiwork of people who do not seem to have the foggiest sense of modulation, or of moderation, in the matter of pitching and sound design," but was appreciative of Yash's performance. Writing for News18, Sonil Dedhia called K.G.F: Chapter 2 an "all-stops pulled out entertainment" film and opined that it "delivers the goods when it comes to non-stop thrills, mood, and style." Monika Rawal Kukreja of Hindustan Times felt the film was "worth the hype and one of the finest sequels to have come out in a long time," and described Yash as "just unmissable." Srivatsan S. of The Hindu labelled the film a "festival of male toxicity" but felt Neel had corrected "some of the wrongs of the first part," writing, "There is only one way to look at K.G.F: Chapter 2 for it to work for you and that is to partake in the madness it offers."

KGF: Chapter 2 collected ₹164 crore (US$17 million) worldwide on the first day of its release. On its second day, the film collected ₹122 crore (US$13 million) worldwide for a two-day total of ₹286 crore (US$30 million), surpassing K.G.F: Chapter 1's lifetime gross of ₹250 crore (US$36.56 million), and took its place as the highest-grossing Kannada film of all time. On its third day, the film estimatedly collected ₹104 crore (US$11 million) worldwide for a three-day total of ₹390 crore (US$40 million). On the fourth day of its release, the film crossed ₹552.85 crore (US$57 million) mark at the worldwide box office. On the fifth day of its release, the film grossed more than ₹625 crore (US$65 million) worldwide. Collections on the sixth day stood at ₹675 crore (US$70 million). The first week collection of the film was ₹719 crore (US$75 million). The movie grossed ₹1,006 crore (US$100 million) in 14 days and became the 4th Indian movie to cross the 1000 crore mark worldwide and the second fastest movie to collect ₹1000 crore, behind Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. While Firstpost reported that the movie grossed 1100 crores, While The New Indian Express and DNA India reported that the worldwide collection to be around ₹1,200 crore to ₹1,216 crore, The Hindustan Times mentioned the collection as ₹1,207 crore. News 18, and TV9 Marathi reported the collection to be ₹1,240 crore. The Times Of India, Vijaya Karnataka, TV9 Kannada and Asianet News reported that the movie grossed ₹1250 crores. India Today reported the collections to be ₹1300 crore. It became the fourth highest-grossing Indian film of all time.

On the first day of release, KGF: Chapter 2 collected ₹134.5 crore (US$14 million) at the box office, the second-highest opening day in India after RRR. The Hindi version raked in ₹53.95 crore (US$5.6 million) at the box office on the first day, making it the highest-opening day collection for a film in Hindi, which is also higher than what any Indian film collected on the first day excluding south India. The film recorded the highest-ever opening day for a Kannada film in Karnataka. It also set opening day records in Malayalam (Kerala) by grossing ₹7.2 crores. The Hindi version raked ₹219.56 crore (US$23 million) at the box office on the fifth day of its release. On the fifth day of its release, the Tamil version raked in around 62 lakhs in Chennai alone surpassing the collections of the Tamil film Beast. The Hindi version managed to cross ₹250 crore (US$26 million) in 7 days making it the fastest one to do so and broke the previous record held by Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (8 days). The Hindi version collected ₹322 crore (US$33 million) in 12 days and became the 10th entrant in the ₹300 crore club in Hindi-language. The film grossed ₹806.1 crore (US$84 million) in India in 15 days run and become third highest-grossing film in India. The Hindi version earned ₹353.06 crore (US$37 million) in 16 days and became the third highest grossing film in Hindi language. The film grossed ₹100 crores in Tamil Nadu, making it the first Kannada and the second non-Tamil film to do so. With a gross collection of ₹ 22.06 crores, it became the second movie to cross the ₹20 crore mark in West Bengal. It became the first film to gross more than ₹10 crore in Odisha and the fastest to reach the ₹50 crore mark in Kerala. In home territory Karnataka it has collected over ₹175 crore (US$18 million) in just 25 days of its release. The Hindi version netted more than ₹421.88 crore (US$44 million) breaking the record of Dangal (₹387.38 crore) and climbed to the second position behind Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (₹511 crore). With domestic collections of ₹1000 crores, the film became the second highest grossing film in India. The Hindi version managed to cross the net collection mark of ₹400 crore (US$42 million) - making it the second movie to do so after Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. The film collected ₹1,000 crore (US$100 million) at the Indian box-office in 33 days and became the second highest-grossing film in India as well as the second Indian movie to gross ₹1000 crore at the domestic market. The gross domestic collection was reported to be ₹1008 crore. It became the first-ever to gross ₹10 crore in Odisha (beating all Odia films) and the fastest to reach the ₹50-crore mark in Kerala. In addition, it has also earned over ₹100 crore each in the Tamil Nadu and Mumbai circuits.

The film debuted at the North American box office by collected more than $1 million from the premiere shows. It collected $225,892 from 80 locations in Australia and a further $39,372 from 26 locations in New Zealand on the first day. In the opening weekend, it collected $26,225,842 from 510 screens, while the Hindi version collected $930,527 from 268 screens in the United States of America. In Canada, it collected $1,117,124 from 55 screens. It grossed £598,000 (US$819,178.08) in the United Kingdom from 182 screens. In other countries, it collected ₹19.53 crore (US$2.0 million) in the opening weekend. It became the first Kannada film to be screened in South Korea and the longest running Kannada film in Canada. It was also the first film to release in multiple languages simultaneously in Canada. In November 2022, News 18 reported the worldwide gross theatrical collections to be ₹1500 crores.