Do All Films Need 2 Parts?

It makes business sense,” says filmmaker Hansal Mehta. “Who are we to decide? The audience decides. Money and the system follow suit.”

But what happens when the audience doesn’t follow? The split-film strategy recently backfired with Anurag Kashyap’s Nishanchi. When Part 1 failed at the box office, Part 2 was quietly pushed to OTT. In hindsight, Kashyap admits the split was a mistake. “The audience wanted the entire story at one go.”

This raises a crucial concern: unlike epics such as the Ramayana, where chapters are clearly defined, films like Nishanchi or Dhurandhar or the Telugu film Akhanda 2... ask audiences to return to the same characters, doing the same things, after a long break.

Marketing gimmick

Writer-director Manish Gupta is blunt. “Multi-part cinema today is a marketing gimmick to multiply ticket sales. It has little to do with storytelling. That said, films like Ramayana genuinely demand multiple parts because of their sheer scale.”Echoing this caution, writer-director Kishore Belekar, whose silent stand-alone film Gandhi Talks recently released, says: “Splitting a film only works if the story truly requires that expansion. Otherwise, commerce dictates form — and when that happens, cinema loses its soul.”

When the story demands scale

Baahubali producer Shobu Yarlagadda supports the format —but with conditions. “If the story demands it, as it did with Baahubali, it makes perfect sense. But if a film is deliberately stretched to create multiple parts, audiences sense the manipulation, and it sabotages the experience.”

Director Suparn Verma says: “Sequels and world-building began gaining ground about a decade ago in India, though the West has done this for decades — from The Godfather to Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.”

He attributes audience acceptance to streaming culture. “Viewers today are comfortable with long-form storytelling. With Dhurandhar, the script itself was massive. During shooting, it became clear the story couldn’t be compressed without loss.”

As for Animal, Verma believes Vanga is deliberately building a cinematic universe. “He finished one arc, teased another, and plans to continue. It’s a new, expansive way of storytelling, creating richer characters and worlds.”

Up to the audience

Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “From both creative and commercial perspectives, splitting a film allows deeper storytelling without rushing emotions or plot. Big-scale narratives today are layered, and audiences are willing to invest time if the content is strong.” He adds: “When storytelling justifies it, more parts simply mean more of a good thing.”