Bollywood's Most Successful Sequels

As Dhurandhar - The Revenge is set to release this week, bets are already being placed on how big will it turn out to be at the box office.

Sequels have traditionally been successful at the BO, especially when they take the story forward. Let's take a look at some such films.

Key Points

Bollywood sequels like Gadar 2 and Drishyam 2 show that strong storytelling + franchise recall can deliver massive success.
However, mixed outcomes of franchises like Dabangg 3 and Race 2 highlight that content quality ultimately decides whether a sequel soars or slips.

Gadar 2
Box office collection: Rs 525 crores (Rs 5.25 billion)

Sunny Deol returned with Gadar 2 and roared big with the sequel.

So much so that it enjoys the best ROI (return on investment) ever for a sequel since it was made at a budget of just around Rs 100 crores (Rs 1 billion) and still entered the 500 Crore Club.

Krrish 3
Box office collection: Rs 240 crores (Rs 2.4 billion)
Krrish
Box office collection: Rs 72 crores (Rs 720 million)

When Koi Mil Gaya released, it was a standalone film which did well and re-established Hrithik Roshan as a big star.

Later, Rakesh Roshan decided to make Krrish which not just turned successful but also led to Krrish 3 being made that broke all records at that role.

Drishyam 2
Box office collection: Rs 241 crores (Rs 2.41 billion)

Drishyam boasts of a story that has always kept audiences at the edge of the seat and hence it was just right that Drishyam 2 was made as well.

It's a fantastic plot line and credible performances in this story full of twists and turns has led to Drishyam 3 in production as well with Ajay Devgn leading from the front in the Hindi version.

Dabangg 2
Box office collection: Rs 155 crores (Rs 1.55 billion)
Dabangg 3
Box office collection: Rs 146 crores (Rs 1.46 billion)

Dabangg was a good movie, Dabangg 2 was an even better movie and then Dabangg 3 was below average.

It had been a roller coaster ride for this Salman Khan franchise which has minted money at the box office each time around, but now there is a question mark over whether Dabangg 4 will be made.

Tanu Weds Manu Returns
Box office collection: Rs 152 crores (Rs 1.52 billion)

One couldn't have imagined the story of Tanu Weds Manu to move ahead but then Aanand L Rai cracked an idea around a lookalike of Kangana Ranaut entering Madhavan's life.

Though the first part was a reasonably successful affair, the second part turned out to be a blockbuster no less.

There are now also talks of Tanu Weds Manu 3 in the making, though yet again one wonders what idea would set it on motion.

Don 2
Box office collection: Rs 107 crores (Rs 1.07 billion)

When Don was remade with Shah Rukh Khan, the core twist was turned upside down.

Don 2 was a hit though it was nowhere close to Don in terms of plot twists.

Don 3 was announced with Ranveer Singh though fans had demanded Shah Rukh Khan.

Now with the actor opting out of the project and the battle being fought out in the public domain, one waits to see which actor steps into this world created by Farhan Akhtar.

Race 2
Box office collection: Rs 100 crores (Rs 1 billion)

Race was a film with 'twist par twist'. Race 2 with Saif Ali Khan leading the show all over again was an ultra stylish affair as well.

It did well, though overall it wasn't as entertaining as the first part.

Race 3 was more of a franchise offering rather than the core story being taken forward though a couple of years ago there were talks about Race 4 being made with Saif.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai
Box office collection: Rs 70 crores (Rs 700 million)

After Munnabhai MBBS, the second in the series was made in the form of Lage Raho Munna Bhai.

Sanjay Dutt and Arshad Warsi returned to entertain in this Rajkumar Hirani film which was much loved by audiences.

A third in the series was announced as well, but then beyond the announcement, it never went on the floors.

Ever since then every year one hears about plans being finalised for the film but to no avail.

Phir Hera Pheri
Box office collection: Rs 41 crores (Rs 410 million)

The world of Hera Pheri was recreated with Phir Hera Pheri and the film turned out to be a superhit as well.

However the wait for Hera Pheri 3 has been on for a couple of decades now.

In fact it was announced as well that Priyadarshan would return to direct Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal, and if at all this indeed happens then the film would turn out to be the biggest comedy ever.

Sarkar Raj
Box office collection: Rs 37 crores (Rs 370 million)
Sarkar 3
Box office collection: Rs 9.93 crores (Rs 99.3 million)

Sarkar was a very good film and the combination of Amitabh Bachchan and Ram Gopal Varma did wonders.

Post that the story continued with Sarkar Raj and the film turned out to be even bigger, both in terms of scale and size, as well as its box office returns.

Sarkar 3 was a disaster though with very poor collections. Now the team is returning with Sarkar 4 and one just hopes that it does justice to this cult story.