Roopesh Shetty: Overwhelmed by the first day response to my new film, Circus

RJ-turned-actor Roopesh Shetty had a string of flop movies to his credit before he decided to take charge of his sinking film credit and tried reviving it with a Tulu film that he wrote and directed. The film, Girgit, went on to become a massive hit and made Roopesh a bonafide star in the coastal belt. During the pandemic, he made another film, Gamjal, which also had a decent outing. His third film is Circus, which he had done pre-pandemic, but has been able to bring to theatres only now.

The film, which also stars Rachana Rai, Aravind Bolar, Yash Shetty and Naveen D Padil, among others, is about Rahul (Roopesh), a young educated man, who wants to set up his own business but is unable to mortgage a family property and raise funds for the same. Circus released in the coastal Tulu-speaking belt of Karnataka, namely Mangaluru, Surathkal, Padubidri, Udupi, Manipal, Karkala, Moodabidri, Belthangadi, Puttur, Sullia, Kundapura, Koppa, Mulleria and Kasaragod, on June 23 and the response, says Roopesh, has been fantastic.

The actor-filmmaker, who has been busy running around with the release, took to social media with a quick video to fans to tell them how happy and overwhelmed he is by the response to the film. “I did not expect that Circus would be as big a hit it is now. The film has taken the biggest opening ever for a Tulu movie, with thousands watching it on day 1. Thank you so much for supporting the film and showing it so much love,” he said.

Circus, we hear, will release in the rest of India, especially in areas with a Tulu-speaking populace, like Bengaluru, for instance, on June 30.