Bigger is better? Do Bollywood sequels work better with bigger names?

These days a filmrsquos success tends to pave the way for its sequels Successful franchises are commonplace now even as producers egged on by box office collections pump in more money to make a sequel However whatrsquos interesting is that more often than not they prefer to cast a bigger name as opposed to the actorsactresses who starred in the originalFor instance Singham 2011 had Kajal Aggarwal in the lead role but the upcoming sequel Singham Returns has Kareena Kapoor cast opposite Ajay Devgn hitlist brings you a few more instancesFilm franchise DhoomLowdown YRFrsquos Dhoom 2004 had Rimi Sen and Esha Deol in the lead roles The action thriller was a huge success and it gave way to a sequel in 2006Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif in Dhoom 3 and left Esha Deol in DhoomThis time around Aishwarya Rai and Bipasha Basu were brought on board Its latest instalment that was released last year featured the popular Katrina KaifFilm franchise Once Upon A Time in MumbaaiLowdown The first film out in 2010 had Emraan Hashmi play Shoaib Khan said to be inspired by Dawood IbrahimEmraan Hashmi in Once Upon A Time in Mumbai and right Akshay Kumar in Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai DobaaraIt came as a surprise to many when his character which was wellreceived by the audience and critics was played by the more saleable Akshay Kumar in the filmrsquos sequel Once Upon A Time in Mumbaai Dobaara 2013Film franchise GolmaalLowdown This comedy released in 2006 and it starred Rimi Sen who was wooed by Ajay Devgn Tusshar Kapoor Arshad Warsi and Sharman Joshi in the filmRimi Sen in Golmaal andKareena Kapoor in Golmaal ReturnsThe film worked well with the audience and a sequel was announced While the main star cast was retained except Sharman Joshi who was replaced by Shreyas Talpade a bigger name mdash Kareena Kapoor mdash was brought in to replace Rimi in Golmaal ReturnsFilm franchise RaazLowdown Raaz 2002 featured thennewcomer Bipasha BasuEmraan Hashmi and Kangna Ranaut in Raaz 2 and left Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea in RaazBut Raaz 2 2009 had Kangana Ranaut while the third instalment that was out in 2012 had Bipasha who had become a bigger name by thenFilm franchise Pyaar Ke Side EffectsLowdown Pyaar Ke Side Effects 2006 starred Malika Sherawat and Rahul Bose and it fared well at the BORahul Bose and Mallika Sherawat in Pyaar KeSide Effects and Farhan Akhtar and Vidya Balan in Shaadi Ke Side EffectsHowever its sequel Shaadi Ke Side Effects 2014 starring established names Vidya Balan and Farhan Akhtar was a dampenerFilm franchise Ragini MMS 2011Lowdown The first film in this franchise starred newbie Kainaz MotiwalaKainaz Motiwala and Rajkumar Rao in Ragini MMS andSunny Leone in Ragini MMS 2When this small budget film turned out to be a surprise hit Sunny Leone was roped to star in the next instalment that released this yearFilm franchise WantedLowdown After Wantedrsquos 2009 overwhelming success it is being said that producer Boney Kapoor is in talks with Salman Khan for the filmrsquos sequelSalman Khan and Ayesha Takia in Wanted andAsinIt is being said that the film has been tentatively titled Most Wanted and that it will star Asin as opposed to Ayesha Takia who was cast in the first instalmentFilm franchise Munnabhai MBBS 2003Lowdown Gracy Singh played the lead opposite Sanjay Dutt in the first instalmentGracy Singh andVidya BalanThe film was a huge hit and inspired a franchise Lage Raho Munnabhai that was released in 2006 had Vidya Balan replace Gracy Singh