Cirkus..An Error in Comedy

Even after being warned not to see and even after keeping zero expectations I realised that seeing Cirkus was a mistake.

It’s that kind of mind-numbingly bad.

Shakespeare wrote Comedy of Errors .. One of the first films made was Do Dooni Char in 1968 written by Gulzar , who remade it as Angoor in 1982.

Do Dooni Char had Kishore Kumar and Asit Sen while Angoor had Sanjeev Kumar and Deven Verma.

Rohit Shetty who is inspired by old time comedies ( Gol Maal, Khatta Meetha, Aaj Ki Taaza Khabar) this time takes up Comedy of Errors in Cirkus.

( A film conceived with Shahrukh..and finally made with Ranveer and Varun Sharma).

The film starts in 1942 with Roy Jamnadas of Jamnadas Orphanage (from Golmaal) experimenting with interchanging two sets of identical twins just to prove parvarish (upbringing) > khoon (blood relation).

 Also, wow, the parents name all 4 kids Roy (Ranveer Singh), and Joy (Varun Sharma) keeping respect to the founders of the orphanage. (Murli Sharma and Uday Tikekar).

So, now, we have got a pair of Roy-Joy shaping up their lives in Bangalore as businessmen & the other pair of Roy-Joy performing in a circus in Ooty. Trust me it looks as absurd as it sounds. Ooty’s Roy gets famous as the ‘Electric Man’ as iska “Bijli se koi rishta hai”..but when he holds the live wires.. current passes through the other Roy..

(A tribute to Judwaa..for another dash of Masala).The whole story revolves around how the Bangalore pair go to Ooty for business and what will happen when both these twin pairs will face each other (Spoiler alert: Nothing interesting happens).

Apart from these 2 twin pairs, a whole bunch of comedians is stuffed along with the Rohit Shetty regulars.

Sanjay Mishra does his best but seems to ham ( his style reminder of his work in Rohit Shetty's " All the Best" (2009) but still remains a standout.

What I enjoyed !!

The retro songs used in various sequences..

Title track of Johnny Mera Naam, 

Dil ka bhanwar kare pukar 

Badan pe sitare

Chalti ka naam gaadi 

Aa jaane jaan

Jaata Kahan hai deewane

Tu kya jaane bewafa

Jaa re Jaa Harjaayi ..

Towards the end of the film, a chain of people get electric  seizures to the song, Piya Tu Ab To Aaja .

Apart from that the Retro look is Jarred and an eye sore.

The film is peppered with self-references to multiple other Rohit Shetty films like Singham but Cirkus FINALLY ends with a  Golmaal returns reference, putting an end to my misery.

(Honestly slept through the last 10 mins or so).

Comedy of Errors becomes Error in Comedy here.

I think it will be worth seeing Angoor once to get over this Cirkus.(More illogical than its spelling)

Raj Kapoor and Shailendra.. Birth Anniversary and Death Anniversary..The Irony

Today is the Birth Anniversary of Raj Kapoor. He would have been 98 today.

Ironically it is the Death Anniversary of Shailendra Ji

who has penned Lyrics for many R.K.Films and also made the doomed film Teesri Kasam in 1966.

Teesri Kasam has been analysed by Mona Chaudhary and Katyayni Jha Thakur  last year and I won't go in to the details but will share excerpts of my comment on this

This is a classic which was discussed earlier but can be discussed again and again.

Basu Bhattacharya had made all off beat classics irrespective of their BO performance.

1966

Teesri Kasam is also arguably Basu Bhattacharya’s best (Though it has been put on record that most of the direction was done by his first assistant B.R.Ishara).

The rhythm of the film is lyrical and ever so gentle and rarely has rural ethos been captured so beautifully on the Indian screen. The film, refraining from conventional drama, flows like the song  in the film (Duniya Bananewale) – beautiful, eternal and moving. Though Basu Bhattacharya went on to make some significant films as part of the parallel cinema movement in India in the 1970s and 1980s – Anubhav (1971), Aavishkar (1973) and Grihapravesh (1980) to name some, they never really matched his work in Teesri Kasam.

Coming to the content..

You have beautifully penned the movie..

The blossoming of the bond between Hiraman (Raj Kapoor) and Hirabai ( Waheeda ji) is warm, wistful and charming and is extremely delicately handled. What draws the nautanki dancer to the rustic cart driver is his simple philosophy of life and his natural aesthetic sense which he expresses through his moving songs. Only as the final parting appears imminent, does the intensity strike.

While Teesri Kasam might just have been a tale of another doomed love story, the social status of its protagonists, and its melancholic tone, added layers to the film’s texture.

In the climactic sequence, as Hirabai’s train departs and the parting becomes real, Hasrat Jaipuri’s words float over images of separation — “Sapne jagaa ke tune kahe ko de di judaai, Kahe ko duniya banaayi…”

Raj Kapoor and Waheeda Rehman literally live their roles in the film. Though much, much too old for the role, Raj Kapoor more than compensates with his performance as the naive country bumpkin. One cannot help but smile with him each time he blushes and goes ‘iss’ or be moved emotionally looking at the hurt on his face as Hirabai bids him farewell. Waheeda Rehman responds with perhaps the best performance of her career even considering her films with Guru Dutt.

The Year 1966 has 2 films with the Prefix Teesri..

Teesri Kasam

Teesri Manzil

And as fate would have it the latter was a blockbuster and the former an unfortunate failure.

Teesri Kasam, in spite of its box-office failure, went on to win the President’s Gold Medal  (National Award) as the Best Feature Film of 1966.

However the film had taken its toll on Shailendra and he passed away, a broken man, on December 14, 1966 on good friend Raj Kapoor’s birthday at an age of just 43.

🙏

8th December Dharmendra - Sharmila

December 8th

1935 : Dharmendra ( turns 87)

1944: Sharmila Tagore (turns 78)

such  evergreen stars , Dashingly Handsome and Dimpled Beauty are born on the same day.

This Couple was Hrishikesh Mukherjees favorite.. It is mentioned in his Biography that he has said

"I love all my actors but Dharmendra among the men and Sharmila among the Women and the movies they have worked together are Special "

The two made an interesting and very successful pair, especially in the films that they did together for Hrishikesh Mukherjee. 

Here's a list of films of this birthday special pairing

Anupama (1966)

This was the first time Hrishikesh Mukherjee brought this very compatible pair together. Sharmila played Uma, a repressed girl who hardly spoke. Dharmendra plays a poet and a writer who tried to bring the shy withdrawn Uma out of her shell. Their performances so complemented one another that Hrishida went on record to state this was his favourite star pair. A lot of us agree. Anupama was memorable for its melodies composed by Hemant Kumar.

Devar (1966)

In the same year as Anupama came another powerful drama, this one directed by Mohan Segal. Like Anupama, Devar too was about repressed unspoken love. Dharmendra played Sharmila’s brother-in-law, silently in love with her as he watched her suffer in a bad marriage. A film way head of its times, it was made memorable by composer Roshan’s melodies, "Baharon ne mera chaman lutkar" and "Guzra zamana bachpan ka" sung by Mukesh.

Mere Humdam Mere Dost (1968) 

Dharmendra and Sharmila looked smashing together in Mere Humdum Mere Dost. Lakximant-Pyarelal’s songs went a long way into making this routine film a blockbuster. Chalkaye Jaam, Chalo Sajana, Na jaa Kahin Ab Na Jaa, Hui Shaam Unka Khayaal aa gaya,were blockbusters and heard even today.

Satyakam (1969)

Regarded by most as Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s best film and by far Dharmendra’s most accomplished performance, Satyakam released in 1969. As a man whose idealism destroys his family, Dharmendra’s natural performance has withstood all ravages of time. Sharmila plays the perfect foil as his supportive wife.

Yakeen (1969)

During the same year as Satyakam, Dharmendra and Sharmila were seen together in the kitschy espionage thriller Yakeen, directed by Brij Sadanah. The film is most memorable for its title song which included the hot blooded hero chasing Sharmila, who sported modern outfits. Put her in a ghagra-choli or a western outfit, Sharmila was game for any role. Shankar Jaikishan were the music directors.Yakeen has Dharam Ji in a double role. It was an important film as with it began Dharmendra’s transition towards being the all-time “He-Man”, an action hero – as we would see him quite often in the 1970s... Sharmila looks amazingly beautiful in Yakeen. The duo looks picture perfect!

In the early 1970s, Sharmila was busy doing films with Rajesh Khanna. But she reunited with Dharmendra in 1975  for their beloved director Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s comedy Chupke Chupke, which has acquired cult status over the years.

Chupke Chupke (1975)

Hrishikesh Mukherjee, however, was not your usual filmmaker. He went beyond the image and did a number of films which tapped the comic talent of the duo. “Chupke Chupke” is a classic example of a film where you smile almost all the way through. Be it Dharmendra entering the film as a botany professor and quickly donning the garb of a watchman, Sharmila the student who falls in love and marries him.The drama gets a twist with the entry of Sulekha’s jijaji (Om Prakash in crackling form) and his constant wit and repartee sessions with the professor who uses drag as his main weapon in the game of one-upmanship. We also have  Amitabh Bachchan as a sober, drab academic and Jaya as his bubbly student and we have all the ingredients of an out and out entertainer.

Ek Mahal Ho Sapano Ka (1975)

A love triangle featuring Dharmendra with Sharmila and Leena Chandavarkar. This is potentially the  most forgettable film from the Dharam-Sharmila oeuvre. Directed by Devendra Goel it did have Ravi give beautiful soulful music ( Title Song, Dil Main Kisi Ke pyaar Ka,  Dekha Hain Zindagi ko ) to this rathur soulless caper.

After this we had two films

Chaitali ( which had Saira Banu replacing Sharmila after almost 8 reels )

Devdas ( Stared by Gulzar with Dharamendra Hema and Sharmila but shelved )

Finally they came together in 1984 

Sunny 

Sunny in 1984 was the last film in which we saw this screen pair together. Again, the songs made this film of theirs stand out in the 1980s. “Aur kya ahd-e-wafaa hotey hain, log milte hain, judaa hotay hain” is remembered till date as the song that plays an important part in the story. The dignified charm of Sharmila Tagore and the suave looks of Dharam ji added greatly to the weight of the love story of the younger pair-Sunny Deol and Amrita Singh. This was Dharmendra’s home production, where Sharmila played his mistress. He dies at the beginning of the film leaving behind the two women in his life, Sharmila and Waheeda Rehman to fight it out. 

From Anupama in 1966 to Sunny in 1984, Dharmendra and Sharmila, on this journey of dreams, have given us some beautiful films  with equally beautiful songs that always remind us of the fascinating romance they created on the silver screen. A romance that has been captured forever. For people to watch and rejoice in... Wishing both these stars a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY .

May both cross a magical 3 figure.

With inputs and reference : Subash K Jha.

#Repost