Bollywood riding high on franchise frenzy

There are 30 franchises in the works at the moment and another 50 in various stages of scripting. Together, they make up 30% of the industry’s revenue-generating pie, said producer N R Pasricha, who has just registered Ziddi 2 and Arjun Pandit 2 following the successes of the first productions

MUMBAI: An industry that has the propensity to put performers in watertight boxes, such as romantic heroes and action heroes, franchise heroes is the newest sobriquet on the block which has become a phenomenon. It stems from a simple truth -- as Bollywood grapples with poor economic health, it is leaning hard on franchises to stay afloat. And as old winning ideas are being reimagined and rebooted, actors headlining the projects are mining the opportunity – some raking in as much as ₹100 crore for each film.

Bollywood riding high on franchise frenzy

Such is the lure that recently veteran artiste Paresh Rawal, indispensable to the Hera Pheri series for his quirky Baburao act, demanded ₹25 crore (highest yet in his career) reportedly when cast for the film’s threequel. It led to a kerfuffle with the film’s lead actor and producer Akshay Kumar. Rawal walked out of the project and returned subsequently after tough negotiations.

There are 30 franchises in the works at the moment and another 50 in various stages of scripting. Together, they make up 30% of the industry’s revenue-generating pie, said producer N R Pasricha, who has just registered Ziddi 2 and Arjun Pandit 2 following the successes of the first productions.

It is in fact the successes of certain franchise films that have led to the current frenzy, said distributor and exhibitor Raj Bansal. Take for example Sukumar’s Pushpa 2 (2024) which raked in ₹830.10 crore, a big jump over Pushpa’s (2021) ₹108.26 crore. Likewise, Rajamouli’s Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) collected ₹118.7 crore and Baahubali: The Conclusion (2017) ₹510.99 crore. Closer home, Sunny Deol’s Gadar: Ek Prem Katha (2001), which did a business of ₹76.88 crore, raked in ₹525.45 crore when the film’s sequel was released in 2023; among other things, it brought an unwittingly semi-retired Sunny Deol back in the game.

Another franchise that grew exponentially is the Tiger series -- Ek Tha Tiger (2012) which earned ₹198.78 crore, Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) ₹339.16 crore and Tiger3 (2023) ₹285.52 crore.

Apart from box office earnings from the domestic and global markets, the other sources of earnings are through OTT, satellite and audio rights, syndication and in-film publicity rights, and merchandise.

What insiders say

“Whether it is in cinema halls or on OTT, franchises today are being stretched. They do not test the craft of storytelling or evolution of an idea. The whole point is to only squeeze every drop out of a brand,” said filmmaker-author-screen writer, Anirudhya Mitra, who wrote The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case. He added that the business plan is based on flawed logic, as “carrying the same bunch of actors does not mean the audience will connect again and again”.

Another writer from Bollywood likens franchises to “doom-scrolling”. He wished to remain anonymous as he is in the middle of writing a couple of franchises himself for which “I am being paid handsomely”. A producer of a recently released franchise paid him “ ₹50 lakh for each funny scene, never mind if the jokes or dialogues don’t land”.

A well-salted player such as Rohit Shetty, who popularised the Golmaal and Singham series, takes a more pragmatic view, as he once said in a television interview that his films work as he makes them “for that family of four that spends ₹3000 to come to the movies; I need to put a smile on their faces as they have spent a significant part of the monthly household income for one evening”.

Betting on franchises also keeps production houses going. As Raid franchise director, Rajkumar Gupta said, “Franchise films are the way forward, which is why everyone is making them.” Proof of the pudding lies in the expected releases this year: Hrithik Roshan’s War-2, Ajay Devgn’s Son of Sardaar 2, Akshay Kumar’s Jolly-LLB-3 and Karan Johar’s Dhadak-2, among others.

After Raid 2 dropped on an OTT platform, there is a curiosity in the industry about a possible Raid 3, although Gupta is “happy to bask in the success of Raid2 for now”.

Stars and the big bucks

Polarised views about the quality of the products notwithstanding, franchise films have emboldened headlining stars to extract their pound of flesh. Consider this: While Housefull-5, which released last month, received mixed reviews, its lead actor Akshay Kumar reportedly took home ₹100 crore for the film’s fifth instalment; his remuneration being part salary and part profit share. Ajay Devgn will reportedly take a similar sum for Drishyam-3 following the same business model as Kumar. And, while actors such as Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan and Salman Khan are also offered similar sums for the bigger franchises, rumour is that Allu Arjun took home over ₹300 crore for Pushpa2, making him one of the highest-paid actors for franchises today. “Clearly, the lure of franchises is too big to ignore,” said producer-distributor-exhibitor, N R Pachisia who is currently producing Son of Sardar 2.

In a TV interview, Akshay Kumar called franchises his “blank cheques in which I can fill any figure because I have quite a few super-successful franchises to my credit and they have been going strong for over a decade. I will always have something to fall back on whether it is Housefull, Kesari, Hera Pheri or Jolly LLB.”

Ajay Devgn feels similarly as he backs lucrative franchises such as Raid, Golmaal, Singham, Dhamaal, Son of Sardaar and Drishyam. It is rumoured that besides Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar, he takes home a three-figure paycheck for a franchise film, and has recently acquired the moniker of ‘franchise king’.

The actor feels the films have an advantage because the title is established and “characters have a carry-forward equity”. “But I will not blindly accept a franchise unless convinced of its merit”.

“I treat a franchise film as an independent entity. It has to have a good story, screenplay, drama and laughs -- simply put, it has to be good as a sequel and have a good stand-alone quality,” he said.

After Animal earned ₹555.36 crore, Ranbir Kapoor has become the newest entrant to the 100-crore club with the film’s sequel Animal Park, under his belt. He is reportedly getting paid ₹140 crore for Ramayana 1 and 2.

Film trade projections reveal stories are unimportant if a top actor is headlining a project – reason why Akshay Kumar’s Housefull and Ajay’s Dhamaal continue to draw crowds despite poor reviews. Distribution head of Zee Cinema, Girish Johar said, big players such as Devgn, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar get paid handsomely for franchise films because “the return on investment (ROI) on franchises starring these A-listers comes back manifold. In fact, there is a dual advantage – the franchise has loyalty and these superstars have their own strong fan-bases. Of course, there can be a debate on their fee on whether it is a high or fair ask.”

Gupta however warned, “I would not like to endorse franchises alone because in doing that we will lose out on original ideas. One should not force an idea. While a franchise film is a safety net, if it fails it may not survive the backlash.”

Producer Kumar Mangat Pathak who has three franchise films lined up over the next nine months -- Son of Sardar2, Drishyam3 and Shaitaan2 – seconded the thought as he said, “Franchises are hard work. You have a loyal audience but you need to work harder to make each film of the franchise that much more interesting and entertaining. You can’t take loyalty for granted.”