'Cirkus' movie review: Angoor khatte? Well...

FilmCirkusDirectors Rohit ShettyActors Ranveer Singh Pooja Hegde Jacqueline Fernandez Varun SharmaRating 25This filmrsquos 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 Mukherjeersquos Gol Maal 1979 But hasnrsquot director Rohit Shetty already done that with Bol Bachchan 2012 mdash possibly Abhishek Bachchanrsquos finest performance yetCirkus 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 Shettyrsquos 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 townAlso ReadCirkus Trailer Launch Ranveer Singh to be part of Golmaal 5 confirms Rohit ShettyIt doesnrsquot help that both these blokes share the same name As do their other brothers Varun Sharma respectively mdash whorsquore also with each other all the time In the original film this brother duo played by Deven Verma if I recall right were lsquoMenFridayrsquo That would be a politically incorrect part to write for 2022Not that it would matter much Within all the pedestrian visual effects and production design itrsquos not like we know what kinda world wersquore in here anyway mdash besides one of the studios Mehboob Mumbai Ramoji Rao Hyderabad etcThe sets are deliberately created to resemble the filmy fakeness from Bollywood movies in the early 1970s Rather than the same timeframe this film is actually set in The periodsetting though is an essentialsmart moveAny story on separate identities will be totally redundant if itrsquos placed anytime post the age of Internet and social media Two sets of supposed twin brothers in nearby Bangalore and Ooty wouldrsquove otherwise found each other on the first day of Facebook itselfNot 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 Shakespearersquos The Comedy of ErrorsAlso ReadDeepika Padukone to join Rohit Shettys cop universe with Ajay Devgnstarrer Singham 3The moment I remember best from Angoor is that bit when the inimitable Sanjeev Kumar arrives at the railway station of a town hersquos visiting with cash and where everyone seems to know him Theyrsquore mistaking him for the brother he doesnrsquot know he has He assumes therersquos a ldquogangrdquo of looters after himThe way Kumar lowers his voice and purses his lips to say ldquogaenngrdquo is a thing of eternal beauty Singh has the same line but strangely you sense zero charmchemistry let alone a lsquoconnectrsquo with that delivery or anything else he does throughoutAnd that can be said for most of the film too It inadvertently looks like a gang that got together to collectively murder Gulzarrsquos gentle masterpiece Of course everyone in their head is supposedly trying to lsquokill itrsquo with this versionHow to Crank up the frickinrsquo volume jar up the screen with colours turn it more into Judwaa 1997 2017 let everyone go fullclown as if actually in a circus attempting total slapstick for comedySingh behaves relatively sane on the screen mdash 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 CirkusIn keeping with film sets designed for Hindi pictures in the rsquo70s there are references after references to old Bollywood including popularretro playing for background music mdash lsquoPiya tu ab toh aajarsquo lsquoHappy birthday to you Sunitarsquo lsquoAa jaane jaarsquohellip I just felt filmmaker Farah Khan wouldrsquove brought in more love and warmth with an lsquoOm Shanti Omrsquo type treatmenttribute for a comedy like thisThis is obviously a lsquoRohit Shetty amp teamrsquo flick That usually spells boxoffice gold Expectations are evident Therersquos a basic benchmark alright mdash for instance Shettyrsquos lsquoAngoorrsquo gt David Dhawanrsquos Chashme Baddoor or this multiple doublerolesrsquo pic gt Sajid Khanrsquos Humshakals mdash if thatrsquos any consolationNone of the willful shenanigans mentioned above should surprise anyone familiar with Shettyrsquos 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 fountainheadI think even the ensemble cast of his action and comedy films rarely overlap For instance yoursquoll only find actor Mukesh Tiwari in the latter As you do here He plays a banditturnedhotelier Murali Sharma breaks the fourth wall to talk directly to the cameraThe funniest slapstick momentsjokes by the way are reserved for actor Siddharth Jadhav to jive away with He does a lsquoJohnny Leverrsquo As does Johnny Lever himselfI donrsquot know how many of you remember Shettyrsquos semihilarious All The Best 2009 Chances are you still remember starkalakar Sanjay Mishra delivering a cross between villains Pran and Jeevan in that pic ldquoDhondu Just chillrdquo This time he goes 100 per cent Jeevan instead For that and much else as an audience I wish you all the best