Common Sense Media Review
By Ishmeet Nagpal
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Indian adaptation of Shakespeare play is boring and crude.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 11+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
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Cirkus
What's the Story?
CIRKUS is the story of two sets of identical twins -- both of whom are called Roy (Ranveer Singh) and Joy (Varun Sharma) -- who are switched at birth by the unethical Dr. Roy Jamnadas (Murali Sharma). One set of identical twins has a cosmic connection to each other so that when one of them is electrocuted, the other feels the effects instead, leading him to live with epilepsy-like symptoms. Meanwhile his unaffected twin makes a career out of electrocuting himself and escaping seemingly unscathed. After 30 years, the two sets of twins finally cross paths, leading to confusion and mayhem.
Is It Any Good?
Even with source material as rich as Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors, this dreadful Indian comedy-drama adamantly refuses to be funny. The dialogue in Cirkus is poorly written, vast amount of scenes are unnecessarily shot in front of a green screen, and even the celebrated Deepika Padukone's cameo is lackluster. Director Rohit Shetty displays no skill, and opts to self-indulgently pay homage to his own previous movies. Sharma, as the twin Joys, tries hard to lend some sincerity but everyone else behaves like they are in a high school play. Even experienced actors like Johny Lever and Sulabha Arya are severely limited by the banal screenplay, while the songs and music are plain awful. For what is essentially a movie that specifically makes a mockery of seizures every five minutes, there are far, far better films to spend your time watching.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the portrayal of disability and seizure disorders in Cirkus. Do you think it was sensitively handled? Why, or why not? What can we do if someone has a seizure in public? How can we be mindful of not using stigmatizing/ableist language?
Discuss the debate around nature vs. nurture. How did the film use adoption to illustrate this debate? Was this something you felt comfortable with?
What are the ethical implications of medical professionals withholding information? Should anyone be allowed to separate twin babies like Dr. Roy did?
Talk about some of the language used. How might it be viewed as offensive? Did it contribute anything to the movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 23, 2022
- On DVD or streaming : February 17, 2023
- Cast : Ranveer Singh , Varun Sharma , Pooja Hegde
- Director : Rohit Shetty
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Zee Studios
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 139 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : June 6, 2023
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