Massy Star’s Massive Disaster: Comeback Impossible?

Ground Zero, featuring Emraan Hashmi as a Border Security Force officer, was released on April 25, 2025, under Excel Entertainment, directed by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani.

The action thriller has received an average response at the box office. On opening day, it collected between Rs 1.15 to Rs 1.20 crore, with a marginal rise to about Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.90 crore on the second day, taking the two-day collection to about Rs 2.7 to Rs 3.05 crore net.

In spite of having a huge fan following of Emraon Hashmi, particularly in Tier B and C cities where he was the second largest star after Salman Khan from 2008-2012, Ground Zero is pegged as a box office letdown.

His previous blockbusters such as ‘Jannat’, ‘The Dirty Picture’, and ‘Murder 2’ had raised expectations, but his recent specialist film picks appear to have alienated some of his fans.

The movie is seriously competing against other Bollywood films such as Sunny Deol’s ‘Jaat’ and Akshay Kumar’s ‘Kesari Chapter 2’, which has impacted its box office momentum.

Audiences and critics provided a mixed response, and the occupancy levels of the film remained in the vicinity of 13.64% on the second day, with maximum footfalls for night shows at 20.34%.

Experts observe that Emraan’s departure from his traditional romantic characters, popularly referred to as the “OG serial kisser,” could have been the reason for the reduced mass appeal.