Cirkus, directed by Rohit Shetty, had high expectations. But regrettably, the movie had a lacklustre start, and as a result of bad word of mouth, it never saw a spike in weekend audiences. Its demise was assured when it dropped more than 50% on Monday compared to Friday.
According to the Film Exhibitor and distributor Akshaye Rathi, “The answer is in the question. The movie itself is to blame. People have specific standards in mind for Rohit Shetty. People anticipate a strong emotional graph with lots of dramatic, humorous, and other moments. The movie was missing that. Its humour was primarily storytelling-based and platonic. I didn’t mind watching it, but it lacked the masala and good times you would find in a Rohit Shetty movie.”
Trade Professional Taran Adarsh said, “There were multiple reasons. Firstly, the trailer is always the first impression. That was not received very well by the viewers. The expectations were humongous as it brought together Rohit Shetty and Ranveer Singh after Simmba (2018) and Sooryavanshi (2021). Secondly, the trailer was launched with a lot of fanfare but the subsequent promotion did not enhance the buzz for the film. Though people liked Deepika Padukone’s song, it did not become a rage. The remaining songs just didn’t work. Both these factors affected the advance. The trade and industry assumed that Cirkus would score through spot bookings and picture dekh ke log taarif karenge. But the biggest nail in the coffin was the first day. It proved to be a complete spoilsport.”
“Something went wrong this time. People were laughing and smiling on screen but off screen, the audiences watching it were not laughing and smiling. The humour fell flat and it was supposed to be a comedy. In my opinion, the show belonged to Sanjay Mishra and Johny Lever. For me, they are the heroes, not Ranveer Singh,” he went on to say.
Atul Mohan, the Trade analyst, explained, “Earlier, people were in the habit of keeping their brains at home. Aaj kal public bahut dimaag lagane lagi hai. First, they watch the trailer and then decide whether they want to see a particular film. Before, the situation was different. A film, starring an actor and director with a huge following, would always arouse curiosity irrespective of the trailer. Now, it’s no longer the case. The audience has even become price-sensitive. There was a time when tickets used to be priced at Rs. 140 and Rs. 150 in many theatres. There would be at least some audience in the morning shows. Even after the negative word of mouth would spread, viewers used to go and watch the film. A film like Dabangg 3 (2019) had poor response and yet did a business of Rs. 146.11 crores. Tab log sochte the ki ‘kharaab hogi toh bhi kitni kharaab hogi yeh film’. Now, the audience totally just rejects it, that too from day 1. In fact, nowadays, the audience either rejects from the first day or accepts the film from the first show.”
“Since the moment the film was revealed, the title and the rumour that it was apparently a remake of Angoor (1982) created the sense that kuch toh gadbad hai,” said Raj Bansal, the owner of Entertainment Paradise in Jaipur. “Despite being marketed as a comedy movie, viewers of the movie have expressed disappointment that there isn’t much humour in it. Therefore, the script contained certain errors by the director.”
Taran Adarsh signed off by stating, “Normally, Cirkus would have been over by the weekend but now, the only advantage is that it has a long period of holidays till January 1. But the excitement among people is minimal. On Christmas day, it managed to collect just Rs. 8 crores. That’s a shocker. You can’t give excuses like cold wave, examinations etc. A film like Drishyam 2 picked up in its sixth week. Avatar: The Way Of Water is doing phenomenal business.”
“Did anyone anticipate Ranveer Singh’s Gully Boy (2019) to gross Rs. 140.25 crores?” According to Atul Mohan, “the cast and crew of the movie, especially Ranveer Singh, should move on. As a result, occasionally unexpectedly successful films can also be unexpectedly unsuccessful. It’s all inherent to this business.”