Love 360 struggles at box office; director-producer Shashank requests moviegoers to ‘save’ his film

Last Friday, director Shashank Taalya’s latest, Love 360 hit theatres. The film, which gives Sandalwood a new hero in the form of Praveen - who was paired with Love Mocktail fame Rachana Inder – opened to favourable critic reviews, with most praising the lead pair and the director’s handling of the subject with a newbie cast. The good reviews, however, did not translate into footfalls in theatres, laments the filmmaker, who has co-produced the film along with Praveen’s mother.

In a video message on Sunday to Kannada filmgoers, Shashank said, “Love 360, which features the popular song Jagave Neenu, released in theatres on August 19 and those who have been the film, be it critics or audiences, have been showering the film and the team with praise. However, the sad part is that this has not translated into the kind of box office collection that we were expecting. Barring Veeresh theatres in Bengaluru, which is drawing crowds, no other movie hall is bringing in revenue. I agree that this is a film with newcomers and people are wondering how the film could have turned out – this is something I was expecting to happen – but based on the positive word-of-mouth publicity from those who’ve seen Love 360, I was hoping for ticket sales to pick up from, say, Saturday evening. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Sunday is a crucial day for us and if the response to the film does not get better, we will risk losing out on screens in the coming days. As a producer, who has made a good film with new talents, I am looking at suffering losses. My request to those who watch and support Kannada cinema is to go and watch our film your nearest movie hall at the earliest and spread the word on social media.”

Love 360 is the Kannada adaptation of the Korean film Mother, which critics have said has been re-purposed well to suit the sensibilities of audiences here.