 "Why Ranveer Singh-starrer ‘Cirkus’ should work during holiday season")
Fun-filled days starting with Christmas and ending with New Year are around the corner. Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus, an ensemble cast period comedy, will attempt to capitalise on the increase in theatrical attendance during this period. Cirkus will face stiff competition from James Cameron’s recently released sci-fi spectacle, Avatar: The Way of Water. One Hindi film that continues to attract viewers is Abhishek Pathak’s crime thriller Drishyam 2, a blockbuster that has slowed down after a brilliant show at the box office. The year 2022 has brought a lot of bad news for the Hindi film industry. However, Cirkus will not end its theatrical run as a commercial failure — unless the film is plain unwatchable. The Rohit Shetty factor Filmmaker Rohit Shetty is a rarity in modern-day Bollywood. A hit-minting machine, he has been consistently successful with his Cop Universe action films, among them Sooryavanshi, a 2021 surprise blockbuster when viewers were still apprehensive about going to the theatres after the Covid-19 pandemic. Cirkus is a new comedy from the director, whose last film belonging to the genre was Golmaal Again, a supernatural comedy and the fourth film of the Golmaal franchise that was a huge box-office success in 2017. Shetty’s mere association with Cirkus will ensure a good start for the film, which will also benefit from the overwhelmingly positive response to its trailer. The star cast Cirkus stars Ranveer Singh and Varun Sharma, both appropriate choices, in double roles of two sets of identical twins who get separated for reasons unknown to the viewer. The film features an assembly of supporting actors, including Johnny Lever, Tiku Talsania, Vrajesh Hirjee, Sulabha Arya, Siddhartha Jadhav, Vijay Patkar, Ashwini Kalsekar and Sanjay Mishra. Of course, female leads Jacqueline Fernandez and Pooja Hegde must have well-scripted sequences focusing on them to shine amidst these performers, among them those with established comic talent, who can make viewers smile even if most critics do not like what they see. Theme’s mass appeal Cirkus is not a remake of Gulzar’s 1982 film Angoor, a laugh-a-minute mini-classic starring Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma in double roles as twins. Shetty’s film has its roots in William Shakespeare’s hilarious play The Comedy of Errors, whose sets of identical twins as protagonists and story about mistaken identities have inspired many adaptations later. While Cirkus might still be compared to the Gulzar film, Shetty’s period film with its bright sets and designer costumes is vastly different from Angoor, whose two Ashoks (Kumar) and Bahadurs (Verma) are simple people in a middle-class environment. One of the early performances of The Comedy of Errors was in Gray’s Inn, one of the four Inns of Court in London, in 1594. More than four centuries later, the basic theme of this immortal play retains its mass appeal. That rare quality would have inspired Shetty, whose flair for choosing viewer-friendly ideas to deliver commercial successes is well-known. Hit songs Two Cirkus songs and their music videos have already become popular. The Lijo George-DJ Chetas composition Current Laga Re is an item number with groovy beats and Hindi and Tamil lyrics. Helped by the music video that features Singh and Deepika Padukone, the latter in a guest appearance, the song is a hit of the kind that becomes a regular fixture in shaadis and discotheques. The other song is Sun Zara composed by Devi Sri Prasad, whose catchy tune and music video with a retro feel featuring Singh along with Fernandez and Hegde have also charmed viewers. Modern-day Hindi music does not play a significant role in a film’s success. One or two hit songs before release can, however, attract some viewers to the theatres — at least in the first weekend. Unhurt by boycott tags Trending hashtags on social media calling for the boycott of certain films have hurt several recent Hindi releases. No such hashtag has hit Cirkus hard, possibly because it comes across as a breezy comedy with Rohit Shetty characteristics that is likely to deliver full-fledged masala-laced entertainment. Initial curiosity about the film is the outcome of its thematic appeal, the presence of a gifted star cast, popular songs and the director factor, which will ensure viewership in the initial days before feedback decides its fate at the box office. The evidence of what is in store promises a hit for Bollywood before the year ends. The industry must be hoping this happens so that it can look forward to 2023 with optimism, a feeling of comfort that has disappeared somewhere.
The author, a journalist for three decades, writes on literature and pop culture. Among his books are ‘MSD: The Man, The Leader’, the bestselling biography of former Indian captain MS Dhoni, and the ‘Hall of Fame’ series of film star biographies. Views expressed are personal.
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