Filmmaking in recent times has become a bit tricky, especially post-COVID-19 pandemic. With the rise of the OTT space, the idea of watching films in theatres has seen a decline, where people prefer to enjoy only the big spectacle films on the big screen and the rest on the OTT space, leading to difficulties in understanding what kind of films can pull a big audience at the theatre.
In that case, even with an understanding of the audience’s interests and the high demand for quality content and meaning, the success of any film is uncertain, as most films post-pandemic failed at the box office. Amid this tough scenario, we noticed that while audiences may not show interest in new stories, they give sequels of hit classics a chance.
Films like Baaghi 3, Street Dancer 3D, and Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan were released in theatres in 2020, and while they did not get a crazy response, all the films saw average to hit responses, but were released before the pandemic. Following that, between 2022 and 2025, films like Singham Again, Gadar 2, Stree 2, Raid 2, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2/3 also performed well at the box office, which revived the industry.
Now it seems Bollywood has found a familiar formula to survive in an increasingly unpredictable box office landscape—nostalgia. In a situation where success has become rare, nostalgia has become a safe bet: even if nostalgia-driven films may not always earn critical acclaim, they have performed fairly well at the box office. Their biggest advantage? An existing emotional connection with the audience.
Given the current box-office dynamics, viewers seem accustomed to diverse storytelling, high-quality content, and the convenience of streaming, making them more selective about spending money in theatres. As a result, several original ideas have struggled to create the kind of theatrical impact Bollywood once took for granted.
So nostalgia-driven sequels have become a choice that can rescue a film. The reason nostalgia works is that it guarantees initial appeal, given the fandom for the original; the familiar, famous characters, established worlds, and memories attached to the original films give these projects an advantage even before release. Audiences may not always be completely satisfied with the final product, but curiosity and emotional familiarity can still translate into decent footfalls.
In 2026 itself, the majority of films were nostalgia bets, including Dhurandhar 2, Border 2, Welcome To The Jungle (the third installment in the Welcome franchise), Dhamaal 4, Cocktail 2, Mardaani 3, Vadh 2, and the recently released Awarapan 2.
On October 2, 2026, another sequel is coming: the Ajay Devgn starrer Drishyam 3.
While, for the time being, nostalgia may rescue the makers, this trend also raises concerns for the entertainment world. This is because if fresh concepts repeatedly struggle to gain traction while sequels continue to attract attention, filmmakers may not take risks on new stories, which limits creativity and expansion in the industry. For Bollywood, nostalgia could indeed be the safest bet—but relying on the past too heavily could eventually come at the cost of discovering the next big original idea.
