Rohit Shetty’s Cirkus is a color-coded world of inconsistencies with no audience connection. In a subsequent episode of Netflix’s The Romantics, producer and director Aditya Chopra discusses his 2016 film Befikre’s poor box office performance. He speculates that Indian audiences weren’t ready for a film without a “emotional core” or his work.
Rohit Shetty’s latest film, the curiously titled Cirkus, released last Christmas and is now available on OTT. Many are wondering what the filmmaker will say about its failure. India-based? Not really funny? Ranveer Singh? Netflix’s 139-minute “comedy of errors” explains why.
Befikre and Cirkus star Ranveer Singh, who was unfairly bulked up. As if that weren’t enough, Cirkus’ two Ranveer Singhs try to make you laugh but fail. Cirkus is his poorest performance. The actor’s stubborn humour drags down his Cirkus performances.
Cirkus, based on Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, introduces this stubbornness. Cirkus follows twins (Ranveer Singh and Varun Sharma) who are separated at birth and their chaotic reunion as adults. Yunus Sajawal’s script fails to distinguish between the two Roys and the two Joys, who act and speak in the same monotonous manner. What’s the link? Roy 2 feels the electricity as Roy 1 performs dangerous magic tricks with electric currents in his Circus. I’ll save the rest of my instances of this idea’s illogic for later. Rohit Shetty looked to perfect situational humour with his Golmaal movie.
Cirkus outshines the Golmaal films. Cirkus’s vivid colour design makes up for its lack of humour. The film’s fake set seems garish because the colours were diluted. Except for the flamboyant Ranveer Singh, whose clothes could be Cirkus-worthy. Wears dark colours and high-waisted jeans pitifully. What were the set designers trying to say with all that colour? Our planet is recovering? Rohit Shetty’s worlds are only joyous? so you can forget about the post-pandemic problems and enjoy Cirkus?
Cirkus’s creators, still locked in the comic and over-the-top flicks of the ’90s, are surprised by their Indian audience’s evolution. The film’s color-coded faults isolate it from spectators. Cirkus shows that Rohit Shetty and team have ignored the fact that people don’t like flashbacks, especially when there’s no sense to them. No one wants to see a movie that mocks ’90s humour. Cirkus is full of infantile and foolish gags, like calling someone a “motu,” having silly characters like “Momo” and “Mango,” and showing them making caricatured faces in close-ups. Murali Sharma’s persona continually explains things to the audience. He even says “Music!” to announce the tune. If the creators thought this would be funny, they were wrong.
Who can convince the Indian public that they were ready for Befikre but not for caricature disguised as romance or humour when they’ve already decided they weren’t? Ranveer Singh’s appearance in both Befikre and Cirkus may be the films’ only connection, since it displays Singh’s continued faith in and preference for experienced filmmakers over screenplays. Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, directed by Karan Johar, has been delayed until July. “Sabr ka phal meetha hai,” Kjo said. I hope this crowd is ready for the meetha core.