With franchise films and sequels becoming a dominant force in Indian film industry, the trend is expected to continue this year, too. Prithviraj Sukumaran, who is gearing up for his directorial venture L2: Empuraan, a sequel to his 2019 film Lucifer, says the growing success of sequels is driven largely by numbers.

“The trend is popular because it makes business sense,” says the actor-director, adding, “Let’s say, a director makes a film and it becomes a huge success. If you make your next film and you say it belongs to that universe or it’s a continuation of that story, the interest spikes. Even the streaming platforms think, ‘Oh, we need to have that film because it’s from the same series’.”

However, Prithviraj emphasizes that the business aspect “shouldn’t be the driving force behind doing this (taking a franchise forward). It should only happen if your story needs to be told across so many films”. He credits the trend to the Baahubali franchise. “It was a very honest part one and part two. You realize that the story really needed two films. That should be the driving force,” Prithviraj signs off.