Rohit Shetty is a true-blue superstar of the Hindi film industry as when things seemed bleak for the Indian theatres due to the pandemic, the filmmaker decided to wait to release his films in theatres only. And when Sooryavanshi hit the theatres as the first film after almost two years of theatres shutdown, it pulled in huge crowds, proving that he was a force, while also reviving the business. I have been a huge admirer of Rohit’s vision as he knows what is needed to pull the audience and while I have been waiting eagerly for his next directorial Cirkus, the filmmaker has given an update on the same.
In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Rohit opened up on the release plan of the Ranveer Singh, Jacqueline Fernandez, Pooja Hegde and Varun Sharma-starrer. Putting the speculations of a July 15, 2022 theatrical release for the film, to rest, the maker put his stance on the same.
He said:
“We have not announced the release date for Cirkus. It’s speculation that we are releasing in theatres on July 15, 2022. We are still considering the date and will announce it soon when we get the right one. I could have announced Cirkus on any date as I was the first person who knew that the theatres are going to open but I felt that one needs to also give other producers a chance too, for six-seven months. Cirkus is ready (the last schedule was completed earlier this month). Too much of movies overlapping, is also not good for the film industry and there is a lot of backlog of films (including RRR, Runway 34, Gangubai Kathiawadi) for two years so let them release first and then I will come. I will not come before July-August for sure so that other producers will get at least six-month space.”
The filmmaker credits his father for instiling this sense of selflessness in him, as he believes that especially in these tough times, he cannot be just thinking about himself and his films. He wants what’s good for the industry as a whole and wants to move forward taking all of them together.
Opening up about Ranveer and Varun’s double roles in Cirkus, Rohit shared:
“It was very tough and especially when the genre is comedy and in today’s time where the VFX has to be correct as kids today are exposed to so much content. But I love exploring new things and the space of double roles was something new for me to do, so Cirkus was a great experience. Cirkus was also challenging to shoot as it is set at a different time frame. I have been wanting to do that for a long time. I wanted to see if a technically upgraded film was made in an earlier era. It’s come out really well as the simplicity of the film works – like All The Best and Golmaal was. I have seen the first edit and it’s beautiful.”
Talking about his leading man Ranveer, Rohit said:
“We have worked on many projects together – from Simmba to Sooryavanshi to doing ads together. I am very comfortable and happy working with Ranveer. He is a great guy and a fabulous actor – the most dedicated actor that I have worked with. Ranveer is the superstar of the next generation, I would say. There is a tuning or comfort zone that I share with him, like how I am with Ajay (Devgn) and it just happened when we started with an ad and did Simmba together. Ranveer is very hard-working and that’s the reason he is where he is today.”
With the Covid cases again surging in the country, a lot of releases are being pushed, so I am sure the Bollywood calendar will again get jumbled up a lot. But I am also hopeful that things will be better soon, and when Cirkus finally hits the screen, I will be thoroughly entertained by this successful duo of Rohit and Ranveer. Now just waiting for Simmba 2 announcement to happen soon as well.