Vashu Bhagnani went the whole hog to promote his son's launch vehicle "Kal Kissne Dekha" but it has been given the cold-shoulder by audiences despite the fact that it was released after a long dry spell at the box office.

Released Friday, the film has failed to draw audiences to the theaters and is on the verge of sinking, if not kept going by word-of-mouth, say industry insiders.

"The film is not really bringing in audiences. Despite it being a masala project, the viewers are not ready to shell out time for newcomers. I guess we'll have to wait for a starry release like 'New York', " Sakshi Mehra, an exhibitor and president of the Motion Pictures Association of Delhi-Uttar Pradesh, told.

"But the movie is doing considerably well in two and three-tier cities vis-a-vis metros. It's only by word-of-mouth now that it can stretch itself, " added Mehra, who also owns the IP multiplex in Varanasi and several single-screen theatres across Uttar Pradesh.

Satish Garg, owner of G3S multiplex in Rohini, echoed the same and said: "Despite being a youth-oriented movie, 'Kal Kissne Dekha' does not offer much on the plate. It doesn't have that magnetic charm like 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai'."

Directed by Vivek Sharma, "Kal Kissne..." is the launch vehicle of actress Vaishali Desai and also stars Rishi Kapoor and Archana Puran Singh in pivotal roles.

Distributed by Big pictures, the film revolves around Nihal Singh (Jackky), a young boy from Chandigarh who wants to be a scientist and comes to Mumbai for further studies.

Nihal has supernatural powers to see the future, which is revealed when he tries to save his lady love Meesha (Vaishali) after he has a vision about her being in danger.

His supernatural powers are manipulated by his trustworthy mentor, played by Rishi Kapoor.

Made on a budget of Rs.27 crore (Rs.270 million), the film released in over 500 screens worldwide but managed only an average of around 30 percent occupancy across multiplexes over the first weekend.

The film has also suffered at the hand of Hollywood releases.

"The youth prefer slick content and in this week's case it is the Hollywood movies '17 Again' and 'Bride Wars' that are drawing them to the theaters rather than an unknown cast starrer Hindi movie, " said an insider from PVR cinemas.