For both Bollywood and Hollywood, 2016 has been a year of sequels and franchises. While Hollywood had over a dozen franchise sequels releasing in India this year, Bollywood, too, had its share of notable ones. Jason Bourne, The Conjuring 2, Kung Fu Panda 3, London Has Fallen, Finding Dory, Inferno, X-Men: Apocalypse, Captain America: Civil War and Underworld: Blood Wars are just some of the titles from the West.

Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3, Ghayal Once Again, Tere Bin Laden: Dead or Alive, 1920 London, Jai GangaaJal, Housefull 3, Great Grand Masti, Raaz: Reboot, Rock On 2, Tum Bin 2, Force 2 and Kahaani 2 represented the desi stable. The trade report card suggests that Hollywood sequels franchise movies have outdone the fare from Bollywood. While only Housefull 3 became a hit like the previous outings in the series, Jai GangaaJal and Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3 recovered the production cost, but didn't set the cash registers ringing exactly. GangaaJal, spearheaded by Ajay Devgn in the lead role, back in the day  was critically and commercially acclaimed. Also, the previous films in the Kyaa Kool Hain Hum series were notches higher in terms of comic value and audience footfall.



Raaz: Reboot and Rock On 2 remained on the other extreme, failing to draw the audiences. Though trade circuit indicates there wasn't enough pre-release buzz about Rock On 2, demonetization seemed to only add to their woes. Force 2, which came a week later, managed to register decent numbers during the cash crunch phase. Of this year's Bollywood sequels, Great Grand Masti suffered the biggest jolt, with the censor copy leaking few days before its theatrical release. As for their off-shore competitors, films like The Conjuring 2, X-Men Apocalypse and Captain America: Civil War had an impressive run at the box office here.

Independent distributor Amod Mehra insists that the reason Indian sequels and franchise movies haven't really kicked a storm is the lack of a great story to take the baton ahead. “We're only learning half the lesson from the West. They make a sequel or continue a franchise only when they have something worth telling. But we seem to be making them irrespective of whether we have a great story or a solid reason to do what we're doing. The reason why films like Rock On 2 and Tum Bin 2 didn't impress is that they lacked a strong story. The audience also feels cheated because our producers here often confuse a sequel with a franchise,“ he rues.

The trend of sequels-franchises in Bollywood, in recent memory, began with Sridevi's Naagin and Nigahein. The latter tanked. Cut to the beginning of the new millennium; Raaz and Raaz 2 opened the floodgate for Bollywood producers all over again. The films, in their genre, brought in a lot of promise. The first three films in the franchise hit the bullseye at the box office too.

From the way it appears, Bollywood can't quite give up its fascination with sequels and franchises. In 2017, the industry has an impressive list like Baaghi 2, Judwaa 2, Jolly LLB 2, Commando 2, Sarkar 3, Baahubali 2, Hate Story 4, Aankhen 2, 2.0 (sequel to Robot) and Golmaal Again lined up. Hollywood will throw in titles like XXX: The Return Of Xander Cage, Resident Evil: Final Chapter, Fast And Furious 8, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Smurfs: The Lost Village. The competition will only get stiffer.

Distributor Anil Thadani believes that a good film, timed well, will work wonders at the box office. For instance, Rock On 2, he says, did take a beating also because of the demonetization drive. “Most sequels have worked. At least, they have recovered costs. Whether a sequel or a franchise works or not depends on the film itself. For the last month alone, I'd give the Hindi releases a benefit of doubt. But Hollywood content in general has been great on quality. And the results are visible in their box office numbers. The films, when dubbed in regional languages, have an even bigger audience base. Its budget, production quality, scale and the overall output are much better than our films,“ he says.

Vivek Krishnani, who heads the Hollywood studio in India that helmed The Angry Birds Movie, believes that a sequel or a franchise works when it offers a fresh story or a point of view with familiar characters, a technique that Hollywood has more or less mastered. “Some Hollywood sequels work in India because they are visually appealing. Indian actors dub parts of these films, which makes them even more attractive. In the past, Indian films like Tanu Weds Manu Returns and the Dhoom franchise worked because they had familiar characters in a different, challenging environment. A sequel's success depends on how the story is being taken forward and whether it is more entertaining than the prequel. This logic applies to films all over the world.“

Having said that, what cannot be missed is that like Bollywood, even Hollywood sequels haven't had a 100 per cent track record. Independence Day: Resurgence and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, for instance, were box office downers. Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah believes that though the trend of making sequels and franchises is catching on in India, it is going through its initial teething issues. “We scaled up Force 2 and it worked despite the demonetization drive. Maybe we need to get our sequels on floors sooner and also up the quality of the content with each film in the franchise,“ he avers.

Sunil Bansal, a distributor from Rajasthan, points out that Hollywood franchises or sequels largely work because they find takers among young Indians, who are huge in number. Year after year, the anticipation for Hollywood sequels and franchises has only swollen in India. Franchises like Paranormal Activity, Hangover and Austin Powers among others have a huge fan following and people earmark their release dates. Irrespective of how they fare abroad, these films have a loyal fan following in the country. “I've generally seen youngsters thronging cinemas when a big Hollywood franchise releases. The overall quality of our films has also dipped. We need to first work on that and then work on sequels and franchises. In the current year, Hollywood has only done 20 per cent better than us. The number could have been higher had the demonetisation drive not affected cinema-goers. We must also not forget that they have some exceptionally big franchises and sequels lined up for next year.We need to pull up our socks,“ he sums up.