Rohit Shetty says he made Cirkus to keep homes of his workers running and his team ‘busy’: ‘I will not touch it today’

Rohit Shetty says he made Cirkus during the pandemic only to ensure that the workers who are associated with him get some job and his team also doesn't sit idle.

By: Entertainment Desk

New Delhi | January 25, 2024 01:42 PM IST

3 min read

Rohit Shetty shared the reason behind making Ranveer Singh starring Cirkus. (Photo: Rohit Shetty/Instagram)

Rohit Shetty’s comedy-drama Cirkus, which was made during the pandemic and released in 2022, tanked at the box office. The audience rejected the Ranveer Singh-led film for its mediocre content. If the filmmaker is given a choice today, he will not make Cirkus. He says he made it during the pandemic only to ensure that the workers who are associated with him get some job and his team also doesn’t sit idle.

Recently, Shetty spoke about how ‘difficult’ it was to make Cirkus, a film with Ranveer Singh in a double role. He told ANI, “It was made during the pandemic when things were changing. Today, if I have to make that subject, I will not touch it. Sooryavanshi was not released, the Indian Police Force was about to start, and we had an eight-month gap because the pandemic was going on. So what should we do? Workers were sitting at home and we had this script for the longest time, a simple, small film. I thought, ‘Chalo bana dete hain. Workers bhi busy rahenge aur hum bhi busy rahenge (Let’s make it. Workers will stay busy and we will keep busy too). It was a studio-based film, with no cars flying, no action, no heroic entry and all.”

Also read | ‘Rohit Shetty failed’: Director opens up on Cirkus failure, says ‘films should entertain, not meant to make you think’

During the pandemic, Shetty was waiting for cinema halls to reopen so that he could have a theatrical release for Sooryavanshi. Meanwhile, he started brainstorming on the script of Cirkus. “We started jamming on Zoom and wrote a couple of scripts,” Shetty shared.

He continued, “Cirkus was the first film to start after the pandemic restrictions were eased. Bohot kharcha hua humara, because every week blood tests, every week COVID tests, keep those with antibodies in front, and those who do not have antibodies should be kept away from the sets. Cirkus was very difficult. We were all waiting for Sooryavasnhi and it was only the simple story that I could have made. I thought, ‘ye bana dete hain, at least workers ke house will run and my team will keep busy’.”

But the film failed to get any attention from the audience. However, Shetty didn’t turn bitter towards the audience for rejecting his film. He said, “The audience has given me so much love and if they felt that there is something wrong, then there must be something wrong. There is no denying the fact. The narrative of the screenplay must not have worked for people.”

Also read | Rohit Shetty says father MB Shetty used to return home with blood stains and stitches, mother Ratna played Hema Malini’s body double in Seeta Aur Geeta: ‘In my DNA to break bones’

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Rohit Shetty is now working on his next Singham film, titled Singham Again. The film stars Ajay Devgn, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor, Ranveer Singh and others.

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