The Cirkus test: Will Rohit Shetty’s larger-than-life commercial cinema remain relevant in a transformed entertainment scene

 

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To understand if Rohit’s Cirkus will close 2022 on a high note or leave the box office high and dry, we talked to industry experts. Amid reports of low advance booking and mixed reviews, film producer and expert Girish Johar says Cirkus will prove to be Rohit’s test. He says, “While the film’s advance booking started a few days ago, the buzz around it is quite low compared to what it generally is before a Rohit Shetty film is ready to hit the big screen.”

Rohit’s last release was Akshay Kumar starrer Sooryavanshi (2020) that has Ajay Devgn and Ranveer Singh’s cameo. People flocked to theatres to watch the film even in the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic.

Johar adds, “Rohit Shetty is a commerical filmmakers of our time. All his films till date have done fantastic business at the box-office. Commerical films always carry a mixed feedback, a mixed report, it is not everyone’s cup of tea but at the end of the day what happens is it is neat and clean, fun entertainment and the audiences can go have a good time at the theatres with their families and feel it is ‘paisa vasool’. That is Rohit Shetty’s traditional trademark.”

 

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Every trade person has always inferred that with every Rohit Shetty film, there’s a lot of expectations, the market kind of depends on him to bring the audiences back to cinema halls and flood the box-office with the much needed moolah. But does Rohit feel the pressure to deliver all the time, he says he takes it as a responsibility to serve entertainment to his audience. At a recent press conference, he had said, “I do not see this as pressure, but a responsibility. From the time we started writing the film, to casting for the film and the shoot — at every step, we kept the audience in mind; that they will come to the theatre with an expectation. So, all we can do is work hard. Therefore, I do not see it as pressure, but a responsibility.”

However, that Rohit Shetty buzz around Cirkus seems a bit low. Why? Johar tries to explain. “For Cirkus, compared to earlier Rohit Shetty films, there is a lesser buzz. Probably for two reasons: everyone knows that Cirkus is a highly expected film because it has a huge ensemble cast, a hat-trick between Rohit and Ranveer Singh after Simmba and Sooryavanshi. So probably they’re purposely trying to build lower expectations. Because, what happens is once the audience goes and watches the film and gets entertained then they’re happy and positive about it, so the positive word of mouth helps them a lot.”

 

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Rohit Shetty, in his own way, has stood the test of time. After giving superhits back to back, he was one of the first filmmakers to face theatres after the Covid-19 pandemic. His film Sooryavanshi, starring Akshay Kumar, was delayed for over nineteen months before it his the big screen in 2021. The film emerged as the first big hit in the post-pandemic world.

 

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In another interview with indianexpress.com, Rohit had shared that as a filmmaker, it’s always important to keep moving, be it films, television or the OTT now. “At the end of the day, whatever you are doing, it’s for the viewers. If they have started liking something else, you cannot be arrogant and rigid that you will just do one thing. If they are enjoying a new format, why not try that? It’s been so many years on TV for me. I started with Comedy Circus in 2009, it’s been a long journey. And now with the Indian Police Force, we are starting the OTT journey. In my case, fortunately, I have always been successful but it’s now very important to keep trying. Also, I feel lucky that we have so many platforms and avenues to explore multiple things.”

Rohit wears his accolades on his like epaulette on his shoulders. With every film breaking some or the other record at the box office. Adding to the euphoria that a Rohit Shetty film is, Manoj Desai, distributor and owner of Mumbai’s iconic Maratha Mandir and Gaiety Galaxy, says it is the brand Rohit Shetty that sells at the ticket counter. He says, “Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar are big stars, but when it comes to Rohit Shetty’s directorials, people come to watch what the director does with these stars in his films, the action sequences he choreographs, the fight sequences, the overall fun element that his films encapsulate. He is one of the most bankable filmmakers in the industry today, and his audience trusts him when it comes to family entertainers. Even at the time when people are running behind ‘good content’ people come for his movies just to have fun along with their family, it becomes a family outing day for many.”