Bollywood's sequel machine is running hot, but producers say script and story is still the king

From Bollywood to regional cinemas, and all the way to Hollywood, 2025 has firmly established itself as the year of sequels. In the first five months alone, nine sequels have hit the big screen—four from Hollywood, three from Bollywood, and one each from the Telugu and Malayalam film industries. And the year is far from over. Audiences can expect at least 9–10 more sequels to release before December, including Akshay Kumar’s Housefull 5 and Aamir Khan’s much-anticipated Sitaare Zameen Par, a follow-up to Taare Zameen Par, set to release in June.

Two major Bollywood sequels have already made headlines this year: Kesari Chapter 2 and Raid 2, both released in April and May, respectively.

Ajay Devgn’s Raid 2, which hit theatres on May 1, has raked in a worldwide gross of ₹194.5 crore so far, with ₹170.75 crore coming from India. Made on a budget of ₹90 crore, the film has clearly been a commercial success. Its predecessor, 2019’s Raid, had grossed ₹154.19 crore worldwide on a much leaner budget of ₹35 crore, according to data from box office tracker Sacnilk.

On the other hand, Kesari Chapter 2 hasn’t been as fortunate. Despite a reported production budget of ₹150 crore, the film has grossed only ₹139.5 crore worldwide, including ₹107 crore in India. The original Kesari, released in 2019, was made on a budget of ₹80 crore and had outperformed the sequel by a wide margin, with global collections of ₹208.8 crore and ₹183.8 crore from India alone.

Despite this uneven performance, the industry continues to bet big on sequels and franchises.

“Sequels, and even better, properly set-up franchises, are proven to do well at the box office as the audience is already familiar with the world as well as the main characters who are already part of pop culture and have an existing fandom,” says Jyoti Deshpande, President - Media & Content Business, Reliance Industries , speaking to Fortune India.

“Our horror comedy franchise with Stree, Bhediya, Munjya, Thaama, etc., is a case in point... once these franchises take a life of their own, then ancillary revenues such as merchandising, gaming etc. are also possible,” she adds.

Deshpande points out that the box office is historically binary—films either become blockbusters or get summarily rejected. In such a high-risk environment, sequels and franchises may seem like safer bets, but she also offers a note of caution.

“A good sequel or a franchise concentrates most on furthering the storyline and the characters and the world that it set up in the original film,” she emphasizes.

The track record from last year seems to support that optimism. Five out of the ten blockbuster hits of 2024 were sequels, including Pushpa 2, Stree 2, Devara, Bhool Bhulaiyya 3, and Singham Again. Their pre-existing fan base and built-in hype helped propel them to commercial success.

Still, Deshpande warns against complacency in storytelling.

“Simply naming a certain film part 2 of something has no continuity... using the name of a sequel is not something I subscribe to as the audience is far more intelligent and deserves far more credit than that,” she says. “But well-written and thought-through franchises will allow Indian studios to create meaningful stories that can be taken from India to the world in true Marvelesque fashion.”

Yet, 2025 has also shown that not every sequel is guaranteed to succeed. As Tanuj Garg, producer at Ellipsis Entertainment, points out, the box office this year has seen dry spells, partly due to fewer films being produced. Sequels such as L2: Empuraan and Kesari Chapter 2 have underperformed, raising questions about whether sequels and franchise films are truly the safer bet.

In a year so heavily defined by sequels, the final box office tally will reveal whether familiarity breeds success—or fatigue.