Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn Rode Sequel Wave In 2025 - Here's How

Sequels are no longer restricted to Hollywood. The Hindi film industry, popularly called Bollywood, is catching up with the trend of follow-ups and extensions of well-established movie franchises. 2025,

in particular, saw as many as five film sequels of two Bollywood actors releasing in theatres. Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn were at the forefront of it. Here's how the two bankable heroes of the Hindi cinema rode the sequel wave in 2025.

Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn in 2025: Story of sequels

Starting with Ajay Devgn's Raid 2, it was the sequel to his successful 2018 film. The actor seemingly entered 2025 with a strategy - revisit the familiar and then reinvent it. One of his three sequels released this year was Raid 2. It marked Ajay's return as the income tax officer Amay Patnaik. This time, he had a level-headed clash with Riteish Deshmukh's Dada Manohar Bhai. Directed by Raj Kumar Gupta, Raid 2 did a lifetime business of Rs 173.05 crore. It streams on Netflix.

After Raid 2's success, came Son of Sardaar 2. Contrary to what one expected, the comic caper didn't land well. It was the sequel to Ajay's 2012 film, Son of Sardaar. As compared to the previous part, the second installment failed to work wonders at the box office. The lifetime collection of SOS 2 stands at Rs 46.82 crore. The film is currently streaming on Netflix.ALSO READ - Akshaye Khanna And Akshay Kumar To Reunite After 15 Years For Bhagam Bhag 2: Report

And last month, we saw De De Pyaar De's sequel, De De Pyaar De 2, releasing in theatres on November 14, 2025. The sequel opened to mixed reactions from both critics and audiences alike. It followed the story of Ashish and Ayesha navigating their age-gap romance as they seek permission from Ayesha's parents. The romantic-comedy did a lifetime box office business of Rs 74.02 crore. It is expected to stream on Netflix.Coming to Akshay Kumar, the Bollywood actor had two film sequel releases this year. In June 2025, Akshay arrived with fifth installment of his much-loved and celebrated comic franchise, Housefull. Despite mixed reactions, the comic caper did well at the box office. Two versions of Housefull 5 were released on the same date. It starred Akshay Kumar, Riteish Deshmukh, Abhishek Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Jackie Shroff and others. It made Rs 183.3 crore in India. You can revisit it on Amazon Prime Video.

After Housefull 5's success, audiences witnessed Jolly LLB 3 on the big screen. The film garnered positive to mixed reactions. Despite the challenges, the courtroom drama did perform well at the ticket window. The Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi-starrer collected Rs 116.75 crore. It streams on Netflix.

What does this sequel wave signify?

Well, it does send out a strong message that content is the king, whether it is presented in a sequel format or fresh. The content of a film has to be engaging enough to pull audiences towards the theatre. Yes, recall value of a big franchise helps upto a certain extent, but it doesn't necessarily fetch the big box office numbers as expected. And that's the reason, actors should think of reinventing their franchise films in a better manner to set cash register ringing.