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The sequel season begins
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Bollywood hopes to turn the heat on with a deluge of sequels. SANGEETHA DEVI. K takes a closer look at what's in store
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I'd like Munnabhai to outlive me. He's touched so many lives through his jadoo ki jappi. VIDHU VINOD CHOPRA
TWICE LUCKY? A still from `Krrish' and the comic trio from `Phir Hera Pheri' (below)
It doesn't take much to make Bollywood film-makers jump into the me-too bandwagon. After getting tired of giving desi twists to Hollywood films, many started dusting history textbooks to make period films. Since that became an oft-repeated phenomenon, a couple of bright minds thought of making sequels to their previous blockbusters. And what do we have now? Not one or two but almost a dozen sequels.
The only sequel we saw in recent times was Nagesh Kukunoor's Hyderabad Blues II, which couldn't muster moolah. Up next is Krrish (in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil), featuring Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra. Rakesh Roshan claims that he hit upon the idea of a sequel while watching Lord of the Rings: makes us wonder if Koi Mil Gaya has such a potential.
Hrithik will also be seen in Dhoom 2, in a negative role. Yash Raj Films has a knack of getting its film publicised. No wonder news about Aishwarya Rai's power yoga training to be fit to sport a bikini did the rounds. The film also has Bipasha Basu.
Open-ended movies
Those like Madhur Bhandarkar argue that films with open endings can be revisited. He's gone ahead and registered titles for his sequels - Chandni Bar 2 and Page 3 - Part II. Neither the stories nor the scripts are in place though. "Perhaps I'll take a look at the recent furore over dance bars," he says. Dhoom, too, falls into this `open category.'
But many others are working on sequels even if the original stories weren't open-ended. So you have Phir Hera Pheri (Akshay Kumar, Suniel Shetty and Bipasha), Munnabhai 2nd Innings (Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi, Jimmy Shergill, Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza and Bomman Irani) and Hanuman Returns.
Reportedly, second parts of No Entry and Judwaa are also being considered. Director Deepak Tijori has decided the title for the sequel to Tom, Dick and Harry.
It'll be called Tom, Dick and Harry in Bangkok but whether the film will be made depends on the success of the first one!
Sequel or series?
Most sequels are being directed by the same film-makers who gave us the originals, with the exception of Phir Hera Pheri. Neeraj Vohra comes in place of Priyadarshan.
Preferring to stay out of the crowd, Vidhu Vinod Chopra maintains that Munnabhai 2nd Innings (tentative title)"is not a sequel, but a different episode in the lives of the same people."
He adds, "It's taken us more than two years to work on this film. I'd like the character Munnabhai to outlive me. He's touched so many lives through his jadoo ki jappi. A family from Thane told us that young boys would play football in front of an ageing, paralytic gentleman to bring back the smile on his face. That's the essence of the film. Unlike others, I'm into making and not just marketing films."
If there's a new trend, can Ram Gopal Varma be left behind? No, he won't make sequels but series instead.
He wants to produce a Darna... series on an annual basis and says, "The next is Darna Mangta Hai. It will also have six stories in the horror genre. We'll select stories through a contest. Having short stories in a film is a good concept."
Phir Hera Pheri and Krrish will release soon, followed by Munnabhai... in August and Dhoom during Diwali.
Hanuman will return in 2007. Its director V.G. Sawant says, "Hanuman's success spells recognition for animation films. The second film will be more slick and better."
Just `two' much!
* Krrish
* Dhoom II
* Phir Hera Pheri
* Hanuman Returns
* Munnabhai 2nd Innings
* Darna series
* Chandni Bar 2
* Page 3 - Part 2
* Tom Dick and Harry in Bangkok
* Judwaa
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