The Rohit Shetty comedy, Cirkus, fronted by Ranveer Singh has taken a slow start at the box office in India. The comedy of errors clocked a low occupancy in cinema halls through out the day as estimates indicate first day collection in the range of Rs 6.25 to 6.50 crore. Cirkus released with over 10,000 shows on its opening day and clocked a low occupancy of 12 percent through the day, which is much below the conversative expectations too. A film of this scale was expected to clock a start of Rs 15 crore, but there are times when the big films don’t live onto the expectations. This is one of those.
Cirkus takes a low start
The three national chains – PVR, Inox & Cinepolis – have collected around Rs 3.20 crore, contributing approx. 50 percent to the total business. While PVR scored a nett total of Rs 1.50 crore, the two other chains, Inox & Cinepolis, have collected approx. Rs 1.70 crore. The biggest surprise has come from the Gujarat belt, as the numbers from this belt has been a shocker as Rohit Shetty films have conventionally done well in Gujarat, and the market is also known to score big for comedy films. Mumbai circuit too has been a major let down for this Rohit Shetty film, as the bulk of the audience in this belt is venturing out for Avatar: The Way of Water on the big screen.
The film needs to see huge jumps on Saturday and Sunday to somehow salvage the scenario following such a low start, and the route ahead does seem a little difficult given the opening and the word of mouth.
The pricing was at blockbuster level, and hence, the footfalls are even lower than what the numbers indicate. The film has released in the festive week of Christmas, and it remains to be seen if it can get some holiday benefit through its run or not. Over the year, the lucrative festive window of Eid, Independence Day and Diwali has been disastrous for Hindi films and the start of Cirkus indicates a dull Christmas too. The dull start also indicates that the trailer of Cirkus didn’t create any sort of excitement among the audience, as a Rohit Shetty comedy with Ranveer Singh and the entire ensemble definitely warranted a much bigger start on just the face value.
Will Cirkus show upward trend on Saturday & Sunday?
While the fate won’t change from hereon, the jump in numbers on Saturday and Sunday, followed up by a Monday equal to Friday might give Cirkus a shot at recording some facing saving numbers, though that looks unlikely as the on-ground report regarding the content is not up-to the mark. The film has sold around 3 lakh tickets on it’s opening day across the country. Cirkus is proving out to be one of those rare failures of Rohit Shetty, and this has also given a chance to all those hiding in the closets since last 15 years waiting for the man to fail to come out and vent their thoughts. But it’s certain that he will bounce back stronger with Singham Again. Biggest of the director’s have seen failures in their career, and its always a part and parcel of every filmmaker’s journey.
As far as Ranveer Singh is concerned, the actor is all set to be seen next in the Karan Johar directed, Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, which pairs him alongside Alia Bhatt. The film rides on a formidable ensemble of Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi among others. As far as Singham Again is concerned, the film is expected to go on floors in April with a start to finish schedule at multiple locations. It is led by Ajay Devgn, and as informed by Rohit Shetty before, will also feature Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in key roles.
As far as second day biz of Cirkus is concerned, the film is seeing a nominal jump at the box office in the morning shows and its the trend towards noon and evening that will tell us where the film is headed on it’s second day.
Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more update on the box office reporting of Cirkus.