Sequel fatigue hits Bollywood: Familiar stories, fading audiences

The disasters of 2025 offer a big lesson for sequel producers

The year 2025 has been raining sequels. But unfortunately, the box office has not been very kind to most of them.

 

War 2, starring Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR, and Kiara Advani, grossed ₹364.35 crore (₹169.39 crore for the Hindi version) but has still been declared a flop — its production budget was said to be upwards of ₹400 crore — and the YRF Spy Universe production has left behind a trail of red. Housefull 5, which featured a massive ensemble cast including Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Sanjay Dutt, and Jackie Shroff, was reportedly made with a budget of ₹375 crore but ended up with a box-office collection of only ₹304 crore worldwide, with India contributing ₹234 crore. Verdict: Average to flop, despite being only second to Chhaava in collections in 2025. Baaghi 4 starring Tiger Shroff, Sanjay Dutt, Sonam Bajwa, and Harnaaz Sandhu was made on a budget of about ₹80 crore. It had a struggling box-office run, managing to earn worldwide gross of around ₹93.19 crore by its second week. Again, deemed a flop. Dhadak 2, starring Siddhant Chaturvedi and Triptii Dimri, had an estimated budget of ₹40 crore but grossed just over ₹20.75 crore in its first 10 days at the box office, closing eventually at ₹29 crore. Declared a major flop. 

Raid 2 starring Ajay Devgn, Riteish Deshmukh, and Vaani Kapoor, made with a reported ₹120 crore was the only sequel to buck the trend this year. The film earned over ₹242 crore worldwide, becoming a significant commercial success. But Devgn too had his downer in another sequel, Son of Sardaar 2, which featured him with Mrunal Thakur in the lead roles. The film was reportedly made on a budget of ₹150 crore but went on to become a massive box-office disaster, earning only ₹65.38 crore worldwide. Again, a flop verdict. 

 

Now let us look at the originals. War 1 clocked ₹475.50 crore and was declared a blockbuster. The Housefull franchise kicked off with ₹117 crore. Versions 2, 3, and 4 did ₹108 crore, ₹110 crore, and ₹276 crore, respectively. Baaghi launched with a box office haul of ₹94 crore, climbed to ₹158.24 crore in Version 2 and tapered off at ₹137.05 crore for the third sequel. The first Raid was a hit at ₹127.42 crore. Son of Sardaar had a great start at ₹139 crore — which is why the sequel has been more than disappointing. For the record, even Singham, which started at ₹157 crore dipped to ₹140 crore in the sequel. So lukewarm sequels is not just a 2025 phenomenon.

 

With all these statistics before us, one is left to wonder whether it was wise that a number of other planned sequels did not see the light of day. Jagga Jasoos 2, Munna Bhai Chale America, Dostana 2, Ra One Sequel, PK 2, Brahmastra Next were all rumoured, and sometimes even announced, but never really took off.

 

Movie sequels generally “work” financially by leveraging the proven popularity of an original film. Sequels usually underperform the original when they themselves lack an original story. While some sequels fail, many highly successful franchises demonstrate that sequels can work well when they expand on a beloved universe or offer audiences a chance to revisit characters they have already connected with, and liked. So where did Bollywood mess up?

 

Studios invest in sequels because they are built on a known and liked story, characters, and world, making them a safer financial bet than a completely new, untested concept. A successful first film already has a built-in audience eager to see more stories and characters from that universe. Returning to a popular franchise allows studios to benefit from existing brand recognition, which is a powerful marketing advantage.

 

Sequels can fail if they are superfluous, don’t add anything new to the original story, or lack a focused plot, which summed up much of Bollywood in 2025. Sequels can risk losing their audience if they are too similar to the original (self-plagiarism) or too different from what fans expected. Audiences may turn out for sequels but if they don’t enjoy them as much as fresh, original films, then the rehashed ones face rejection.

 

Well-executed sequels can expand the movie’s mythology and deepen the established world, making for a more engaging experience. But there is no universal formula to follow. The disasters of 2025 should be a big lesson for sequel producers. 

The author is chairman of Rediffusion