Sequels are safe option: Mahesh Bhatt

With films like "Jannat 2", "Murder 2" and now "Raaz 3", Vishesh Films seems to have turned into a sequel making machine and Mahesh Bhatt advocates its policy, saying with sequels you are secure.

"A sequel guarantees a safety net with at least 40 percent collection at the box office in comparison to the original film. This happens because the brand has a recall value," he told IANS.

"Films like 'Jannat 2', 'Murder 2', 'Raaz 2' amongst other have all been successful for us. Today, the only yardstick to measure the response of a film is the box office collection and the opening weekend collection," he added.

Bhatt agrees sequels provide a "safety net for his investors", but there is also a flip side to it.

Elaborating, he said: "We will keep making sequels as I want to create a sense of safety for my investors, a safety for the opening weekend. But there is also a flip side of making sequel that it might not meet the people's expectations," he said.

After "Jism 2" their next release is "Raaz 3". Directed by Vikram Bhatt, it stars Emraan Hashmi, Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta and focuses on rise and fall of a superstar and the dark side of the film industry.

Bhatt, who wrote "Jism 2", is happy with the kind of response the erotic thriller has received at the box office.

" 'Jism 2' collected Rs 21.25 crore over the weekend and I am predicting that the lifetime business will be around Rs.30 crore irrespective of the negative buzz," he said and added that a section of people didn't like the film, but the box office numbers tell a different story. The film cost Rs.7 crore.

"There is a segment of the audience found it very sluggish. People have also said that the content is too mature and doesn't meet the requirement of fast paced thriller. But if we go by the numbers, I believe no one should not raise finger against us," he said.