 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Is Bollywood coming down with sequel fever?
Bollywood follows.
We haven't really tapped into sequels and franchises in India yet, but now with the biggest Hollywood summer releases all being sequels and with films like Dhoom 2 and Golmaal 2 -- and the best sequel in all of Bollywood, Lage Raho Munnabhai -- finding the moolah, the rest of the industry is more than ready to follow suit and jump aboard the sequel bandwagon.
The following ten films are supposed to be in various stages of production, scripting, or just plain rumours. So here you go, Bollywood sequels:
Most Wanted
Salman Khan's Wanted caused such a furore at the Bollywood box office -- despite trashy reviews, it was the second-largest hit of 2009, behind 3 Idiots -- that greenlighting a sequel was a no-brainer.
The Southern original Pokkiri might not have a sequel (so far) but the tale of a cop pretending to be a ruffian can clearly be taken forward, and it is after all a man who walks, loves and kills casually, just dances seriously.
Get ready for more Prabhudeva.
No Entry 2
Anees Bazmee's No Entry was one of the biggest hits when it released in 2005, but the director's been busy with back-to-back farces since, not allowing him to revisit this chaotically contrived tale of men with suspicious wives forced into having an affair.
Anil Kapoor and Fardeen Khan are expected to reprise their hapless roles, while Salman Khan's role in the new film might be a cameo.
As is the case with Hindi sequels, most likely all new item-type women will be brought into the mix, and probably handed bikinis.
Dostana 2
Tarun Mansukhani's politically insensitive Dostana might not have seen good writing, direction or acting, but John Abraham's bum in yellow briefs and Priyanka Chopra wriggling around in a golden bikini on the beaches of Miami ensured that the film did well.
The sequel buzz is strong for this I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry remake, with Priyanka, John and Abhishek Bachchan all lining up to star again.
Don 2
Farhan Akhtar's take on Chander Barot's Don might have enraged purists, but the talkshow-host/actor/director is unfazed by the criticism as he plans to take his ludicrous story forward.
Of course, it is easier to shrug off criticism when Shah Rukh Khan is in your corner, and with King Khan's presence, Akhtar is all set to make a really in-your-face action film.
Hopefully without the burden of an original to be compared against, this will be a better attempt.
Judwaa 2
It's been a while since Salman Khan spanked Rambha and Karisma Kapoor with elan in David Dhawan's Judwaa, all the while singing about broken elevators and refreshment counters in movie theatres, but the star is clearly riding a wave and wants to cash in on his older successes while he still can.
Two Salmans could definitely still work, but one would imagine Shakti Kapoor would be dropped from the equation, possibly to make way for Rajpal Yadav or some such.
Race 2
The first Abbas-Mastan film didn't make any sense whatsoever, an over-twisted series of double-crosses featuring a bunch of amoral characters, two of whom died in the end.
Therefore, this is ripe for the plucking, setting up another film about a group of unscrupulous pretties who stab each other in the back.
The smart money's on the people who died in the first film being revealed as not dead after all, ha ha. (Or groan, depending on which way you look at it.)
Singh is King 2
This one has serious franchise potential.
Bazmee went slick and big budget with this Akshay Kumar starrer, outfitting his Sikh avatar with bejewelled turbans, bling, and a cameo from none other than Snoop Dogg.
A second part will be bigger and shinier, which sounds a little scary. However, this was the last Akshay Kumar farce that truly 'worked,' where the actor was at the height of his powers and could pull the film off purely by his own screen presence.
This could be a return to form for Kumar, resuscitating his slapstick-superstar genre, or, alternately, killing it entirely.
Krrish 2
Koi Mil Gaya might have liberally borrowed from both Steven Spielberg and Satyajit Ray and added its own dose of retardation, but Rakesh Roshan's Krrish was a relatively original film.
An interesting project that took very generic superhero-movie tropes and placed them amid Bollywood melodrama, this second film will obviously feature everything a lot bigger.
Kangna Ranaut is rumoured to be the girl in this next venture, but in Roshan movies only Hrithik matters, really.
It might not be the smartest upcoming film, but could definitely take CGI a long way forward.
Mr India 2
There have been rumours about a Mr India sequel for many years now, but the character seems to be following in the footsteps of its director, Shekhar Kapur.
A project is announced, names are attached, and then nothing quite happens.
A Mr India sequel has massive potential, however, and the latest rumours say that Anil Kapoor and Sridevi will reprise their lead roles but that no director has yet been attached to the project.
Shekhar Kapur, however, is not likely to return to the venture.
Andaz Apna Apna 2
Raj Kumar Santoshi has been trying to get Aamir and Salman Khan back in the same frame for years now, to try and recreate the success of his cult comedy classic from 1994.
So fixated is he on the project that it is rumoured that Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, which has similiar surreal slapstick roots, was made to show the Khans that he can still do madcap comedy.
However, they seem unconvinced, and the latest buzz on the project is that an AAA2 will feature Ranbir Kapoor alongside Imran Khan.
It's an interesting pair, but will audiences accept an AAA minus Aamir and Sallu while they are still around and larger than ever?