Rohit Shetty defends Bollywood ahead of Cirkus’ theater release

• Rohit Shetty made a passionate defense of Bollywood and his colleagues.
• Many Hindi films failed to connect with audiences.
• Rohit does not see it as a terrible portent for Hindi films.

At a recent panel discussion, Rohit Shetty made a passionate defence of Bollywood and his colleagues in the film industry. Before the release of their film Cirkus, Rohit and his crew—Ranveer Singh, Pooja Hegde, and Varun Sharma—appeared for a film promotion and were asked about the state of the Hindi film industry.

Even though full attendance was permitted in movie theatres this year, many Hindi films failed to connect with audiences. Meanwhile, a few Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam films drew record crowds even in the Hindi belt. Rohit, on the other hand, does not see it as a terrible portent for Hindi films. He said it in a session with Lallantop.

He spoke about his picture Sooryavanshi, which was released late last year and earned 196 crore at the box office with a 50% occupancy rate. It could have raised more than 350 crore if it had been released at full capacity. “Sooryavanshi was released, and at the beginning of this year, films like The Kashmir Files and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 worked well. Drishyam 2 has done well recently. It’s not like our films aren’t working. Gangubai Kathiawadi did really well,” he noted that for every successful regional film, he listed one successful Hindi film of the year. Rohit added, “Ek saal kharab gaya aur aap palti maar rahe ho (We had one bad year and you are turning your backs on us)?”

Rohit passionately named all of Bollywood’s major hits over the years, including Sholay, Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Maine Pyaar Kiya, Munnabhai MBBS, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, Hera Pheri, and his own Singhan, Golmaal, and Sooryavanshi. He said that all of these films were also produced by Bollywood. The audience at the event began screaming his name, and even Ranveer was impressed by how brilliantly Rohit defended the Hindi cinema industry.

Rohit told the interviewer, “Don’t mind it madam but rats are the first ones to jump ship when it sinks.”

Cirkus, starring Jacqueline Fernandez and others, will be released on December 23.