Cirkus day 1 box office collection: Rohit Shetty's film records a very poor opening

Rohit Shetty's Christmas offering Cirkus starring Ranveer Singh, Varun Sharma, Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez and a cameo appearance by Deepika Padukone has turned out to be the biggest shocker of the year. The film opened to poor collections, way below the predictions.

Day 1 of Cirkus saw very poor footfalls in the cinemas and the film collected only about Rs 6-6.25 crore nett, reports Box Office India. The film has failed to perform in Maharashtra, Gujarat, CI and Rajasthan circuits, and the collections were equally poor in the bigger centres. These circuits usually outperform for a film of the comedy genre, so these numbers are indeed shocking.

Despite not being a big budget film, expectations from Cirkus were huge as it was releasing on a holiday and Rohit Shetty has had a good track record. Contrary to expectations, the opening collections of Cirkus are even lower than Raksha Bandhan, Thank God, Ek Villain Returns and Bhediya.

Cirkus that is touted to be a tribute to Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors was poorly received by critics and audiences alike. It was panned for its lack of entertainment, poor characterisation, and bland music. Film critic, producer and trade analyst Girish Wankhede called Cirkus an 'overconfident venture' in a conversation with ETimes. "It is like taking the audience for granted, nothing serious is seen in any department. The film lacks a coherent screenplay and the entire premise looks too colourful and loud. The caricatures of characters are too loud and filmy. It’s an insult to Angoor and in fact, Shakespeare," he said.