Hope strong word of mouth snowballs into more people coming to theatres: An Action Hero makers

Ayushmann Khurrana and Jaideep Ahlawat starrer An Action Hero is having a slow run at the box office. The Anirudh Iyer directorial, despite the positive reviews, opened to a meagre Rs 1.31 crore. The box office numbers increased marginally to Rs 2.16 crore on Saturday and as per early estimates, the film collected about Rs 2.40 crore on its third day.

The film’s makers and lead actor Ayushmann shared a statement on Instagram on Monday, talking about how the film has received “positivity and strong word of mouth” and hoping that it “snowballs into more and more people coming into theatres”.

Ayushmann wrote partly in Hindi, “This is my first action film. This is Anirudh Iyer’s first movie, it is musician’s Parag’s first theatrical, writer Neeraj Yadav’s first film…During the entire journey of An Action Hero, it really felt like we were the newest students of cinema and were all set to make something really new and exciting.”

He added, “As a team, we are always inclined to cause creative destruction. From Shubh Mangal Saavdhan, Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan and now An Action Hero, we have tried to give audiences something new to savour and discuss through our brand of cinema. So we are humbled with all the positivity and strong word of mouth. We hope this snowballs into more and more people coming into theatres. We have always wanted to tell stories differently and projects that are fresh, unique and clutter-breaking. We are grateful for all the love coming towards An Action Hero. It validates our stance of walking the road less travelled, to take risks and hopefully contribute to making our industry a more diverse storytelling entity. For us, An Action Hero is a rare script, a film that was meant to push the envelope of creativity and we hope you continue giving it love and appreciation in days to come. Keep loving and supporting.” The post was signed by Ayushmann and producer Aanand L Rai.

If the film, which is made on a budget of approximately Rs 45 crore, fails to pick up pace in the coming weeks, it would be the fifth dud for Ayushmann at the box office after Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui, Anek and Doctor G.

Drishyam 2 is also eating into the business of both An Action Hero and Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon starrer Bhediya. The film, featuring Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Akshaye Khanna, has already collected Rs 170 crore and is aiming for the Rs 200 crore club.