From Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One to Jacqueline Fernandez’s Drive, 7 Films That Were Meant to Kickstart a Franchise Only for Box Office to Spoil the Party

Whenever a big movie is about to release, the PR blitzkrieg around them sometimes often go overdrive. From the people involved calling their own films a masterpiece to the actors even pretending to be in a relationship (or even actually are), we have seen all kinds of promotional gimmicks and statements made to hype a movie. And then if the film is really big, then the makers even hint or announce that the sequel is in the wings. Sylvester Stallone Confirms He Won't Be a Part of Creed III But Has Ideas for New Rocky Sequel.

Now sequels aren't anything novel for Bollywood. Every third film coming out these days is mostly a sequel or part of a planned franchise. We have successful ones like Dhoom, Golmaal, Housefull, Baaghi, Dabangg; and we have not so successful ones like Yamla Pagla Deewana, Force, et al. And then there are films that come with the grand expectations of launching a franchise, but the box office and/or poor critical acclaim put a dampener on their party, ending the dreams with just one film.

Let's look at seven such films that were meant to kickstart a franchise, or at least, have a sequel, only for the box office to play party-pooper.

Ra.One

Shah Rukh Khan's attempt to be a superhero is a technical marvel, no doubt, and was made with the intention to start a franchise a la Krrish. However, the movie found little favour with the critics and the fans. While Ra.One did make Rs 100 crore at the box office, the business just about made up to the production costs of the film. Rumours about sequels are still going on, but we should know better. SRK is presently looking for the right film to reignite his box office dominancy, while Sinha found his calling in hard-hitting social dramas like Mulk, Article 15 and Thappad.

Jagga Jasoos

Ranbir Kapoor's ambitious attempt to turn producer wasn't a bad one. At least, that was the opinion of the viewers who saw the movie for what it was - a true musical made in the vein of Tintin-like adventure thriller. Campy and Colourful, Jagga Jasoos, however, didn't manage to make a good impression with the audience, who weren't just ready for this kind of experimentation. It also didn't help that the movie had faced a series of delays before it hit the theatres, thus provoking a lack of confidence in both the trade pundits and the fans. Jagga Jasoos was supposed to have a sequel, and it even ended on a terrific cliffhanger, involving a two-headed Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Sadly, that's all we are going to get! Irrfan Khan Was Supposed to Play Ranbir Kapoor's Father in Jagga Jasoos and Suggested the Idea for Metro Sequel, Reveals Director Anurag Basu.

Drive

The funny part about this Sushant Singh Rajput-Jacqueline Fernandez starrer is that the makers - Dharma Productions - had a lot of confidence in the film when it was announced. Otherwise why would they even go out and say that Drive would kick-start a franchise, even before it went into production? Unfortunately for all involved, Drive turned out to be a mess when it comes to its production woes, as well as the final product. After getting delayed for long, the movie was dumped on Netflix, and the viewers was aghast to see the half-finished VFX, proor screenplay and bad acting on display. Needless to say, this Drive made a bad turn and jumped off the cliff!

Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship

Dharma Productions returns to the list again, and this time they were so confident of making a franchise that even the title reflected their ambition. Honestly speaking, that could still happen if they want to. For that, though, they have to disregard the average response this Vicky Kaushal horror film received both from the critics and the audience, learn from the mistakes made in the film and work on bettering the sequel. Like how Hollywood did with Ouija: Origin of Evil or Annabelle: Creation. In this case of Bhoot, it is easier because horror is always fascinating for the audience, and it is decently budgeted. Not to mention, Vicky is a very likeable star. The point is, will Bollywood show that temerity?

Saaho

Technically, Saaho is more of a Telugu film, but considering it was launched in a big way in Bollywood, has major Bollywood stars in the cast and even did good business in North territories, the movie does qualify here. Now, Saaho makes for a special entry here - it is the highest grossing film in the list, and Prabhas fans still stand by it. But the movie was coldly received by the critics, who expected another Baahubali from the actor only to get a messy action flick with some pretty average special effects from a film made on this scale. Talks of Saaho having a sequel happened way before the film hit the screens, but considering the money pumped into the first one and the very middling recovery, that won't be happening!

Agent Vinod

When Saif Ali Khan and Sriram Raghavan joined hands for a spy-thriller, we were pretty excited. When Agent Vinod turned up in theatres, after enticing us with a killer soundtrack and Saif-Kareena Kapoor's jodi, what we got a film that was high on technical aspects, but was way too dark and grim for a film with such a name. Not to mention, long too. It remains Raghavan's weakest film to date, and expectedly, underperformed at the box office. Saif had plans to make a sequel, but we know how it turned out.

Drona

Remember the time when even Abhishek Bachchan had jumped onto superhero bandwagon? Goldie Behl, who directed the movie, had also penned the sequel even before the film came out. Unfortunately for both Behl and Bachchan, fans didn't find the star make much of an impression as a magical hero in this Harry Potter rehash and the movie was a bomb at the box office. Only Priyanka Chopra manages to rise out of the dud gracefully. As for the sequel, let the last line of the "Johnny Johnny Yes Papa" poem be the answer!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 12, 2020 09:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).