the Rohit Shetty comedy, Cirkus, directed by Ranveer Singh got off to a slow start at the box office in India. The Comedy of Errors recorded low cinema occupancy throughout the day as estimates put the first day collection at between Rs 6.25 and 6.50 crore. Cirkus posted over 10,000 shows on its opening day and saw a low occupancy of 12% throughout the day, which was also well below conversational expectations. It was expected that a film of this stature would mark a Rs 15 crore debut, but there are times when great films fall short of expectations. It’s one of them.

Cirkus gets off to a low start

The three national channels – PVR, Inox and Cinepolis – collected around Rs 3.20 crore, contributing approx. 50% of total turnover. While PVR scored a net total of Rs 1.50 crore, the other two chains, Inox and Cinepolis, collected approx. Rs 1.70 crore. The biggest surprise came from the Gujarat belt, as the numbers for this belt came as a shock as Rohit Shetty films have generally done well in Gujarat, and the market is also known to score big for comedy films. The Mumbai circuit was also a major disappointment for this Rohit Shetty film, as most of this belt’s audience venture for Avatar: The Way of Water on the big screen.

The movie needs to see some huge jumps on Saturday and Sunday to somehow salvage the script from such a low start, and the road ahead seems a little rocky given the openness and word of mouth.

The price was at blockbuster level and as a result attendance is even lower than the numbers indicate. The film was released during the festive week of Christmas, and whether or not it can cash in on the holiday remains to be seen. During the year, the lucrative festive window of Eid, Independence Day and Diwali has been disastrous for Hindi films and the start of Cirkus also points to a lackluster Christmas. The boring start also indicates that the Cirkus trailer didn’t create any kind of excitement among the audience, as a Rohit Shetty comedy starring Ranveer Singh and the whole ensemble certainly deserved a much bigger start on face value.

Will Cirkus show an upward trend on Saturday and Sunday?

Although fate won’t change from here on out, the jump in numbers on Saturday and Sunday, followed by a Monday equal to Friday could give Cirkus a chance to record head-to-head savings numbers, although it seems unlikely because the field report about the content is not up to par. The film sold around 3 lakh tickets on its opening day across the country. Cirkus turns out to be one of those rare failures of Rohit Shetty, and it also gave a chance to everyone who’s been hiding in closets for 15 years waiting for the man not to come out and express his thoughts. But it is certain that he will bounce back stronger with Singham Again. The greatest directors have had setbacks in their careers, and it’s always been a part of every filmmaker’s journey.

As for Ranveer Singh, the actor is set to be seen next in Karan Johar’s Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani direction, which pairs him alongside Alia Bhatt. The film relies on a formidable ensemble of Dharmendra, Jaya Bachchan and Shabana Azmi among others. As for Singham Again, the film is set to release in April with a start-to-finish schedule in multiple locations. It is directed by Ajay Devgn and as mentioned by Rohit Shetty before will also feature Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in key roles.

As for Cirkus’ day two business, the film is seeing a nominal box office jump in morning shows and it’s the midday and evening trend that will tell us where the film is headed on day two.

Stay tuned to Pinkvilla for more information on Cirkus’ box office reports.