Director Umesh Shukla, who won the National Film Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for OMG: Oh My God!, is facing a setback with his latest release Heer Express.
Despite being promoted as a clean family entertainer, the film is struggling so much at the box office that producers and theatres are offering up to eight free tickets per booking by applying the code FAMILY, just four days after its release.
After news of the free ticket offer went viral, many joked that the producers should have uploaded Heer Express on YouTube instead of spending on distribution.
Industry watchers say the film’s failure is partly due to its competition from Mirai, which released a week earlier and still holds audience attention and ticket sales.
Heer Express made Rs 50 lakh on Friday, fell to Rs 32 lakh on Saturday, and rose slightly to Rs 58 lakh on Sunday, closing the weekend at Rs 1.4 crore.
Along with Heer Express, films like Ek Chatur Naar, Love in Vietnam, Mannu Kya Karega, and Jugnuma also performed poorly at the box office, according to trade analyst Girish Wankhede.
He stated these films flopped mainly due to weak marketing efforts that failed to attract audiences to theatres.
Girish further said that the film lacked both strong content and effective promotion. If the content had been engaging, reviews and word of mouth would have helped it recover.
Many believe that since both factors were missing in Heer Express, its poor box office performance was bound to happen.
