FICCI FRAMES: Abhishek Bachchan and Vijay Krishna Acharya discuss the making of a successful film franchise

When Aditya Chopra decided to roll out India's own version of 'The Fast and Furious' with Dhoom in 2004, no one imagined that the movie would spawn sequels and a decade later get etched in India's cinematic history as the most successful franchise especially after Dhoom 3 amassed an unprecedented 500 crore worldwide, Day Two at FICCI FRAMES 2014 saw actor Abhishek Bachchan and writer director Vijay Krishna Acharya aka Victor deliberating on what goes into making a successful film franchise like Dhoom. Revealing that there was never any pre-conceived notion of making any sequels of Dhoom, Abhishek said, “When Adi (Aditya Chopra) conceptualized Dhoom, there was never any thought of making any sequels. I and Uday were the first actors to be cast for the movie. Somewhere I thought Adi had an idea at the back of his mind that this could perhaps be a franchise. I remember him mentioning that if the film achieves the goal that he has set, then a sequel could be looked at." Dhoom as a franchise has always been more about it’s the plot and less about its characters unlike movies like Batman or Spiderman where the story revolved around the central character making them indispensible. Pointing this out as one of the reasons behind Dhoom becoming a successful franchise, Abhishek said, “Dhoom is not a character based franchise, unlike Batman. So it becomes easy to make a franchise because you can pick and choose situations and place characters in every sequel. The basic format of Dhoom lent itself into making successful sequels and ultimately a successful franchise." Director Victor who had written the previous Dhooms before finally taking on the mantle of directing Dhoom 3 stressed on identifying the connect that audience develops with the movie as the driving force for sequels. Moreover, the fact that each of Dhoom’s sequels was a standalone story in itself also majorly contributed to its success. “Before Dhoom 2 began, Adi told me that we should make a sequel only if it is a story that we would have made any which ways. If not, then we should not. The brief was 'Never make a film just to fulfill the franchise.' The focus was always on making a film that we would have made even in the absence of a franchise.” While Dhoom and its sequels have only got bigger and better, reports about Dhoom 3 being the last in the series had started doing vigorous rounds especially in the aftermath of unconfirmed rumours stating that Aamir had inked a deal with YRF that Dhoom 3 would be the last of the Dhoom series. Abhishek on his part, believes that if at all Dhoom will end; it will be a creative decision and not a business one. Elaborating further on his opinion, the actor said, “Dhoom thankfully has rolled into a giant of franchise. Even if Dhoom 4 is made with a new star cast, it would still be a hit. There was never any guarantee that we would turn Dhoom into a franchise. These things grow organically. If Aditya ever decides not to make Dhoom 4, it will be a creative decision and not a business one because logic demands that after Dhoom 3’s success, Dhoom 4 should follow. As much as we would like it to be a business, there has to be a room for creative as well. Abhishek also agreed on the fact that there is always immense pressure to cater to the commercial aspect. “ The problem we always perennially face is that film making is a commercial art. As much as we would like to cater to creativity, we are also duty bound to cater to commerce as well. When my film releases and I want my audience to buy a ticket, it is like a promissory note which says “ I promise to give you, your money’s worth.” The session ended on a rather lighter note when a delegate from Assam told Abhishek that her daughters after watching Dhoom 3 kickstarted a vigorous discussion on who should be the right antagonist for Dhoom 4? A witty Abhishek pointed out to a member in the audience who had earlier expressed a desire to script future Dhooms and said, “Ma’am you should take your daughters’ concern to the gentleman who aspires to be the next scriptwriter of Dhoom. He can tell you who will be the antagonist.” The remark surely left the audience in splits.