Killing two birds with one big stone — can Bollywood sequels crack it?

Ranveer Singh’s action film Dhurandhar has cracked box office gold in India, making over ₹538 crore at last count, and industry experts say the filmmakers who spent around ₹300 crore on two instalments, are likely to reap even greater benefits with the release of the second part, due in March—while the buzz around the first is still fresh.

Indian filmmakers have often tried to release two parts to what they plan as a big-budget film franchise in quick succession, shooting much of the material together in an attempt to economize marketing and production costs, besides encashing brand value and audience familiarity.

However, the formula has thrown up mixed results: while the two Baahubali films recovered their ₹400 crore plus budget setting box office benchmarks, sequels planned to Ranbir Kapoor’s Brahmastra haven’t been taken to the floors yet, since the first part wasn’t deemed profitable enough.

Currently, the makers of Kalki 2898 AD are putting together a second part, with the Hindi version alone having earned nearly ₹300 crore. It was made on a budget of ₹600 crore, with some portions of the second part already in place.

“The second part always benefits from the success of the first, but the basic idea is that the story has to lend itself to a franchise where more than one film can be shot together or released in quick succession," Rahul Puri, managing director of Mukta Arts and Mukta A2 Cinemas said.

While many times, not both parts are equally big in scale and grandeur, what the strategy does is create a world for the film, Puri added. For example, Baby, a spy thriller starring Akshay Kumar that had released in 2015 and made over ₹95 crore in box office collections, had led to the conception of another related but small-scale spin-off called Naam Shabana that earned ₹36 crore, Puri pointed out.

But for all of that, bets on the first crucial film have to pay off. Yusuf Shaikh, founder and chief executive officer of Janta Cinema, a low-cost theatre chain pointed out that along with Brahmastra, even John Abraham’s Attack was to have a second part that never saw the light of the day.

“Many abandon the idea of future instalments if the first film doesn’t do well. The whole energy is depleted and it gets very difficult to put together the second movie even if it has been planned and partially shot. The economics may work if you have a lot of material and can afford to market both films but it only makes sense if the first is successful," Shaikh said, adding though that pre-release sales such as OTT and satellite become far easier if the first film is a hit.

To be sure, the Hindi film industry, which lined up nearly 50 sequels for release between 2025 and 2026, is already facing a reality check.

While many of these were not shot along with the first part and released several years after the same, the idea of cashing in on brand value without adequate writing or planning, has clearly not paid off. Titles such as Dhadak 2, Son of Sardaar 2, War 2, Andaaz 2 and Baaghi 4 have underperformed, indicating that audiences don’t bite the bullet that easily.

Film producer, trade and exhibition expert Girish Johar agreed makers see the two-part franchise formula, where films are often shot together and released without much delay, as a way to entice audiences into visiting cinemas for a brand and milieu that is already familiar to them.

“But it is equally possible for the move to backfire. If the story doesn’t lend itself to a franchise, viewers will not come," Johar said.