The trailer of Rohit Shetty’s comedy-drama—Cirkus—is out and expectations are high that the movie would revitalize the lackluster performance of Bollywood films, except a few, this year.

Shetty, who is known for his comedy and multi-starrer movies, ended the year 2021 with Sooryavanshi—part of his police universe films—that revived the business of the Indian box office. Though the film received mixed reviews for its “uncritical jingoism”, it collected 294.91 crore Indian rupees at a time when cinemas were operating at 50% occupancy due to Covid. Now same hopes are with the upcoming movie to set the tone for 2023 when Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan will end his four-year hiatus with the release of Pathaan.

When asked about any kind of anxiety about the film release during the trailer launch on December 2, the Golmaal series filmmaker responded with confidence about the movie. “No, not really. I have seen the film that’s why,” he said as the cast and the people in the hall laughed at the reply.

Many Hindi films this year have not been commercially successful, with Aamir Khan and Akshay Kumar facing boycott campaigns before the release of their movies. Such movies could not bring the audience back to theatres. However, Hindi-dubbed movies from South India were blockbusters amidst this. K.G.F: Chapter 2, Pushpa: The Rise, Vikram, RRR, Ponniyin Selvan 1, and Kantara were blockbusters at the cinema. Indian media reported that such flicks have reversed the old trend of South to North.

The last Hindi film, which was commercially successful and received positive reviews from critics, was Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 2. The move, a sequel of its moniker, has so far earned 250 crores at the box office, giving a much needed boost to the cinema. And, Cirkus will try to carry forward the same momentum.

“I don’t take it as a pressure. It’s a responsibility when we start the film when we write the film when we are shooting the film,” the Chennai Express director said in response to a query.

It will also be much needed hit for lead actor Ranveer Singh, whose last two films did not perform well at the box office. 83, a movie based on India’s cricket World Cup glory, managed to collect more than 190 crores. The movie was made with a budget of more than 200 crores. Jayeshbhai Jordaar, a comedy-drama, collected over a quarter of its total budget—86 crore.

But, this time Ranveer is returning with the “blockbuster of cinema” for the third time after Sooryavanshi and Simba.

Simba, the third in Shetty’s police universe, was a success. According to Shetty, Ranveer’s energy was a factor that compelled every director to work with him.

Like his other movies, Cirkus is also a multi-starrer and will be released on December 23. It features Pooja Hegde, Jacqueline Fernandez, Varun Sharma, Johnny Lever, and the team Shetty which are seen in his every comedy movie.

“It’s always an audience in mind that they will come with expectations. All you have to do is work hard. There is no pressure but I take it as a responsibility,” Shetty said at the trailer launch.