23 December,2022 02:05 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
Still from Cirkus
This film's title Cirkus is also its genre. Its sequel should be named Masala. Which, given the parting scene in this picture, is a hint at a remake of Hrishikesh Mukherjee's Gol Maal (1979). But hasn't director Rohit Shetty already done that with Bol Bachchan (2012) - possibly Abhishek Bachchan's finest performance yet?
Cirkus stars two Ranveer Singhs for the price of one. This makes me wonder if actors are paid twice over, for a double role. Singh, who was such a riot in Shetty's Simmba (2018), deserves a raise alright. For being made to saunter in so clueless here; likewise seeming lost as twins, from two different cities, causing much confusion, when both brothers happen to be in the same town.
Also Read: 'Cirkus' Trailer Launch: Ranveer Singh to be part of 'Golmaal 5', confirms Rohit Shetty
It doesn't help that both these blokes share the same name. As do their other brothers (Varun Sharma), respectively - who're also with each other all the time. In the original film, this brother duo (played by Deven Verma), if I recall right, were âMen Friday'. That would be a politically incorrect part to write for 2022.
Not that it would matter much. Within all the pedestrian visual effects and production design, it's not like we know what kinda world we're in here, anyway - besides one of the studios, Mehboob (Mumbai), Ramoji Rao (Hyderabad), etc.
The sets are deliberately created to resemble the filmy fakeness from Bollywood movies in the early 1970s. Rather than the same time-frame this film is actually set in. The period-setting though is an essential/smart move.
Any story on separate identities will be totally redundant, if it's placed anytime post the age of Internet and social media! Two sets of supposed twin brothers, in nearby Bangalore and Ooty, would've otherwise found each other on the first day of Facebook itself.
Not that I could spot an acknowledgement on the screen anywhere (my bad, if it slipped my eyes), Cirkus is based on Angoor (1982), which in turn was an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors.
Also Read: Deepika Padukone to join Rohit Shetty's cop universe with Ajay Devgn-starrer 'Singham 3'
The moment I remember best from Angoor is that bit when the inimitable Sanjeev Kumar arrives at the railway station of a town he's visiting, with cash, and where everyone seems to know him. They're mistaking him for the brother he doesn't know he has. He assumes there's a "gang" of looters after him.
The way Kumar lowers his voice and purses his lips to say "gaenng" is a thing of eternal beauty. Singh has the same line, but strangely, you sense zero charm/chemistry, let alone a âconnect', with that delivery, or anything else he does throughout.
And that can be said for most of the film too. It inadvertently looks like a gang that got together to collectively murder Gulzar's gentle masterpiece. Of course everyone, in their head, is supposedly trying to âkill it' with this version!
How to? Crank up the frickin' volume, jar up the screen with colours, turn it more into Judwaa (1997, 2017), let everyone go full-clown, as if actually in a circus, attempting total slapstick for comedy.
Singh behaves relatively sane on the screen - just to offer you precious comparison with others. And if you want further proof, consider that the replacement for the magical Moushumi Chatterjee from Angoor is one, Pooja Hegde, in Cirkus.
In keeping with film sets designed for Hindi pictures in the '70s, there are references after references to old Bollywood, including popular-retro playing for background music - âPiya tu ab toh aaja', âHappy birthday to you, Sunita,' âAa jaane jaa'â¦. I just felt filmmaker Farah Khan would've brought in more love and warmth with an âOm Shanti Om' type treatment/tribute for a comedy like this.
This is obviously a âRohit Shetty & team' flick. That usually spells box-office gold. Expectations are evident. There's a basic benchmark, alright - for instance, Shetty's âAngoor' > David Dhawan's Chashme Baddoor, or this multiple double-roles' pic > Sajid Khan's Humshakals - if that's any consolation.
None of the willful shenanigans mentioned above should surprise anyone familiar with Shetty's films, either. His career has two parallel strands. One is a bunch of action movies, in the template of Singham; the other, a series of madcap comedies with the Golmaal franchise as its fountainhead.
I think even the ensemble cast of his action and comedy films rarely overlap. For instance, you'll only find actor Mukesh Tiwari in the latter. As you do here. He plays a bandit-turned-hotelier. Murali Sharma breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the camera.
The funniest slapstick moments/jokes, by the way, are reserved for actor Siddharth Jadhav to jive away with. He does a âJohnny Lever'. As does Johnny Lever himself!
I don't know how many of you remember Shetty's semi-hilarious All The Best (2009). Chances are you still remember star-kalakar Sanjay Mishra, delivering a cross between villains Pran and Jeevan in that pic: "Dhondu? Just chill!" This time, he goes 100 per cent Jeevan instead. For that, and much else, as an audience, I wish you all the best.
