The coming months will have four releases — starting with Commando 3 and Dabangg 3 later this year to Street Dancer 3D and Baaghi 3 in the next few months.
Historically, franchise films haven’t always performed well despite having a legacy of its own. Sample this: Salman’s Race 3 was a disappointment. Student of the Year 2 did average business while Yamla Pagla Deewana 3 tanked. 1920 London and then 1921 were not really up to the mark. Recently Housefull 4 did not rise to the occasion due to severe critic reviews but still managed to become Akshay Kumar’s highest grosser ever giving him two Rs 200 crore films in the same year. “The cinema viewing generation is changing quickly.
The younger lot of cinegoers are not really aware of what a Raaz was in 2002, 1920 or Race were in 2008.
But when you look at a series like Golmaal Again, they opt for fresher stories and keep it entertaining which is why all the four parts of the Rohit Shetty directed series have done well,” explains trade expert Atul Mohan.
Each film from the Golmaal franchise made more money than the previous ones with the fourth one crossing Rs 200 crore. Publicity expert Rajesh Vasani also tries to drive home the logic that it is the content that plays the villain instead of being the hero. “Films can never go wrong. But projects can go wrong and these days, people are making projects. Since there is a dearth of genuine and original subjects, the producers are continuing the franchise but the area of variations has been narrowed down to the same set of characters and their behaviourial pattern,” he says.
