Hero’ box office collections: Salman Khan production manages 35-40 pct occupancy rate on day 1

Hero’ box office collections rest on superstar Salman Khan’s pulling power without him actually having any role to play in the movie – he is the producer. ‘Hero’ stars newcomers and, even though they may have the backing of Salman Khan, Sooraj Pancholi and Athiya Shetty performances can alter that only a little.
Salman Khan has gone all out to promote the movie. He has even promised fans that he will personally sign theatre tickets and all they have to do is post them to him. He announced this on Twitter in his inimitable way: “Watch ‘Hero’. Send me your ticket. I will sign 100 tickets. One of them could be yours. Send your ticket(s) to PO Box 9808 Bandra (w) post office, Mumbai 4000050. Apna naam, address aur twitter handle bhi likhna.”
‘Hero’ has been well promoted and everyone who goes to watch movies is aware of the fact that it released today as well as the link with Salman Khan. The theme of the movie is modern and youngsters would be willing to give it a try. Whether it will appeal to a wider audience is unclear.
In the end, the question that requires to be answered is whether Salman Khan’s ‘call-to-action’ is appealing enough for his fan-hordes to descend on theatres to watch ‘Hero’. Indubitably, Salman Khan has hyped up Sooraj Pancholi immensely and if that gets successfully translated on ground, the sky is the limit.
One thing going in Hero’s favour is that it will not face any competition from rivals as no top-draw movie is releasing alongside and neither is any other strong rival looming from the previous week.
By late Friday evening, reports indicated that ‘Hero’ day 1 occupancy rate was 35-40%. That is just a little above average. It is clear that Salman Khan’s promoting power is having to battle hard against all the reviews which have more or less panned the movie. With the weekend upon us, it remains to be seen, how the audiences will react. Much will depend on word of mouth feedback, which if positive, will bring people to theatres. However, expectations are that the box office collections will improve only to an extent.

Source:http://www.financialexpress.com/article/lifestyle/showbiz/hero-box-office-collections-salman-khan-sooraj-pancholi-rs-100-crore-movie/134228/