Part III?

The trend of making a series of films with same characters or carrying the story forward is very common in Hollywood. The fourth part of Spielberg’s Indiana Jones series released last year after almost two decades. Harry Potter… series is eagerly awaited each time a new installment arrives. The trend of making sequels is very recent in India. The first director who walked on this less travelled path was Mahesh Manjrekar who made Hathyar (2002) as a sequel to Vaastav, his most acclaimed and successful film so far. But the sequel didn’t work and nobody perhaps even remembers it as a sequel.

In the year 2004, Yashraj film’s Dhoom directed by Sanjay Gadhvi became a huge hit. During the promotion of the film the actors were fondly remembering the shooting and wished if a sequel could be made but the culture was non-existent in India. But the idea struck the maverick producer Aditya Chopra and he decided to make a sequel to the film. After the announcement, two other filmmakers whose films had become huge hits in the previous year also chose the path. Rakesh Roshan decided to follow up super hit Koi Mil Gaya with Krrish and Rajkumar Hirani decided to make Lage Raho Munnabhai as a sequel to the cult film Munnabhai MBBS.

All the sequels arrived in 2006. The first one to come and woo the audience the world over was Hrithik Roshan starrer Krrish which became first successful superhero film in Hindi film industry. Though it didn’t receive the same critical acclaim but it went much ahead in box-office collections than the previous one. It was followed by Sanjay Dutt-Arshad Warsi starrer Lago Raho Munnabhai which became much bigger hit than the prequel. Lage Raho… was not a conventional sequel where story is carried forward; rather two most important and popular characters of the first part were kept and a new story was written for the film. Words like ‘gandhigiri’ became a part of popular culture and many incidents happened in real life which was directly influenced by the film. The last film to come that year was Dhoom: 2 starring Hrithik Roshan, Abhishek Bachchan, Aishwarya Rai, Uday Chopra and Bipasha Basu which went on to become the biggest grosser of the year despite some multiplex chains not playing the film due to revenue issues. These sequels became the top three grosser in the year.

After 3 years, there are no concrete plans to make ‘part three’ to all these successful films though all the makers are very much keen to make their respective films. Post Dhoom: 2, director Sanjay Gadhvi’s contract with Yashraj films got over and he left the production house to make Kidnap with Sanjay Dutt and Imran Khan which was a flop when released last year. He is now planning 7 days in Paris with Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. It is sure that he is not returning to Yashraj soon and hence the part 3 of this hit franchisee might not be directed by the original director. There were rumours that Aamir Khan and Shahrukh Khan would come together for Dhoom: 3 which will be directed by Aditya Chopra (who makes only romantic films as a director) himself. But proving the rumours wrong Aditya went on to make Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi with his favourite actor Shahrukh Khan which became a big hit bringing Yashraj films back on track. Though no formal announcement about the making of the film has been made yet, it is highly likely that Shahrukh will play the glamorous and ever elusive thief in the film. Still there is time till we can see the adrenaline pumping action sequences in part 3.

The same delay happened to other two films as well. Vidhu Vinod Chopra announced Munnabhai Chale Amerika and even released a trailer with Eklavya (2007) but the makers decided to go ahead with 3 Idiots with Aamir Khan in the lead. The film will release by Christmas this year and the director can start working on part 3 only after that. Rakesh Roshan announced Krrish 2 but nothing more has been done to it. Meanwhile he produced Krazzy 4 (2008) and Kites (yet to release). Hrithik Roshan who works on one film at a time is shooting for Sanjay Bhansali’s Guzarish which means Krrish 2 is not happening anytime soon. Meanwhile Ram Gopal Varma paid his tribute to The Godfather with Amitabh-Abhishek starrer Sarkar (2005) which became a moderate hit. It was followed by Sarkar Raj (2008) which couldn’t become a huge box office success either. Varma has no immediate plans to make, if at all it happens, the part 3 of his Sarkar series either.

There is no doubt that part three of at least one of the series will release, but it is taking too long a time and it doesn’t seem to happen soon either. As viewers we have to wait for sometime till our favourite Munnabhai-Circuit make us roll with laughter or desi super hero taking on bad guys to save the world or a cool cop with his buffoon assistant chasing the shadows of an elusive thief.