Bollywood sequels: a recipe for success?

Hindi cinema is following Hollywood’s lead by releasing follow-ups.

MUMBAI:

A glut of Bollywood sequels are due in the following months, causing people to speculate whether the industry has run out of ideas or is just milking a successful formula in troubled times. More than a dozen follow-ups are in the pipeline, including Bheja Fry 2, a second Dabangg, a third in the Dhoom franchise and yet another installment of the Golmaal series.

Shah Rukh Khan is also getting in on the act, with his sequel of Don due out by the end of the year. The action film, in which the actor reportedly does his own stunts, is currently in post-production.

With low box-office ratings of the Indian films since the past two years and lack of ingenious scripts, Bollywood studios are increasingly desperate for a money-spinner.

But Bheja Fry 2 director Sagar Ballary emphasised that the success of follow-up films is hardly guaranteed.

“I didn’t rush to make the sequel immediately after the first film came out in 2007. We waited for the right script to make the second part,” he revealed.

“Every film stands on its own. Whether it’s a sequel or not, the film has to work.”

Bheja Fry, starring comedian Vinay Pathak, is based on the popular 1998 French comedy Le Diner de Cons (The Dinner Game), which was also made into a Hollywood movie, Dinner for Schmucks.

Follow-ups are an established part of Hollywood. Sequels in the Godfather trilogy were arguably better than the original film. Whereas others, like the Star Wars prequel, were popular with neither fans nor critics.

Bollywood has had some successful sequels in the past.

Notable franchises include the Munnabhai and the Golmaal series.

Director Rohit Shetty will be hoping that Golmaal’s fourth addition, starring Kareena Kapoor and Ajay Devgan, will be just as successful.

“If I have created a brand, why should I be apologetic about making money on it? You reap what you sow, right?” Shetty was quoted saying in The Hindustan Times recently.

The Dhoom series has equally been a box-office winner throughout the last decade.

Bollywood producer Arbaaz Khan, who will direct Dabangg 2, said the film was at the scripting stage and hopes that it will live up to the audiences’ expectations.

Dabangg, which has a corrupt cop starring Salman Khan, was one of the few hits of last year. It won a host of awards including Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment at last week’s National Film Awards.

Arbaaz Khan said a sequel is justified given the film’s massive following.

“It was the biggest mass entertaining film of the last year that did extremely well at the box office. So, the sequel, too, will hopefully work like the first one,” he said.

Despite their insistence on artistic integrity, these prominent filmmakers admit the importance of financial factors.

With the film brand already known, marketing is cheaper and success is more likely.

“Producers have become more demanding, because for them, it’s good business,” explained Ballary. “They know sequels will surely recover the cost of the box office because of the success of the first part and there’s not much to lose.”

“There are many scripts and good stories in the market but producers don’t want to risk new ideas. They feel it’s safe to work with a sequel because audiences like it.”

Khan added: “The pressure to deliver a hit is bigger because people will surely have greater expectations.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2011.