Four years ago, before the release of director Ram Babu Gurung’s ‘Kabaddi 4: The Final Match’, one question lingered in the minds of thousands of Nepali moviegoers: would Birkaji get married this time?

For nearly a decade, audiences had followed the awkward romantic journey of Kaji, played by Dayahang Rai, through the mountain villages of Mustang. By the time the fourth instalment hit the theatres on May 17, 2022, the curiosity surrounding the character had become larger than the story itself. Cinema halls filled quickly, as viewers returned to a world they already knew intimately.

Marketed as the franchise’s “final match,” the film grossed more than Rs220 million and became another major commercial success for director Ram Babu Gurung.

The original Kabaddi, released on April 25, 2014, had earned widespread acclaim for its distinctive storytelling and reportedly grossed over Rs70 million, a remarkable figure for Nepali cinema at the time.

But the final match was never really final. A few months ago, Gurung completed filming a fifth instalment of the series, again bringing Maiya, played by Rishma Gurung, back into the narrative.

The success of the Kabaddi films reflects a broader transformation within Nepali cinema. Sequels, franchise and recurring cinematic universes are universally shaping the industry’s commercial structure. But the rise of sequels also raises a deeper creative question: when does a sequel genuinely continue a story, and when does it merely extend the market value of a successful title.

Globally, sequels have long occupied different artistic purposes. Some exist simply because audiences enjoy revisiting familiar characters and worlds. Others emerge because the original story leaves thematic or emotional questions unresolved.

Take for example the Jason Bourne films from Hollywood, which continue the psychological and political consequences of Bourne’s fractured identity across multiple entries. The Godfather Part II expands the moral collapse of the Corleone family while simultaneously revisiting its origins. In such films, each instalment deepens earlier conflicts rather than merely repeating them. The sequel, hence, becomes part of a larger narrative.

Many Nepali sequels, however, emerge from a different reality altogether: economic insecurity.

For filmmakers working within a financially fragile industry, a recurring title can significantly reduce risk. Established characters already possess audience recognition, distributors feel safer, and theatres become more willing to allocate screens. In an environment where even successful directors frequently struggle to recover investments, sequels increasingly function as a form of market insurance.

Few filmmakers exemplify that reality more clearly than Gurung.

The original Kabaddi, released in 2014, was praised for its grounded humour, naturalistic performances and portrayal of Himalayan village life. Audiences found freshness in the flirtatious tension between Kaji and Maiya, set against the social rhythms of Mustang’s mountain communities. The film reportedly grossed over Rs 70 million, a remarkable figure for Nepali cinema at the time.

Gurung believed there was still more to explore within that world.

“This story of Himalayan life needs to be told further,” he had said after the first film’s success. “The audience is not yet fully satisfied.”

Then came the sequel ‘Kabaddi Kabaddi’. In it, Gurung introduced a new character played by Saugat Malla alongside Rai. The film received positive reviews and registered a sharp rise in box office earnings. But between the Kabaddi films, Gurung also directed projects such as ‘Purano Dunga’, ‘Mr Jhole’ and ‘Saili’. None delivered the same level of audience enthusiasm or box-office success as the ‘Kabaddi’ series that had established his name. Later, ‘Kabaddi Kabaddi Kabaddi’ revived his market standing. His subsequent film ‘Senti Virus’ had little to inspire the investors, pushing Gurung back towards the dependable commercial pull of the Kabaddi universe.

In many ways, the franchise has become both the strongest financial foundation and his defining cinematic identity.

That pattern is visible across the industry.

Director Gyanendra Deuja openly acknowledges that commerce drove the making of ‘Jhingedaau 2’, scheduled for release this October.

The original ‘Jhingedaau’, adapted from a story of the same name by Bhim Nidhi Tiwari, was a surprise commercial success after its 2022 release. Encouraged by audience response, Deuja promptly announced a sequel.

“The main reason for making ‘Jhingedaau 2’ is commercial,” Deuja admits. “When the first part becomes a hit, making a sequel is a global practice. I made the second film to benefit from the earlier success.”

But Deuja also points to the financial pressures operating behind such decisions. Earlier, in February 2023, Deuja released ‘Upahaar’, which bombed at the box office and was panned critically.

“I began working on ‘Jhingedaau 2’ partly to recover those losses and achieve commercial success,” he says. “But the story itself is equally strong.”

According to Deuja, the second part is not based on the book.

“It follows the same characters and circumstances, focusing more on the relationship between a mother and her children,” he says.

The commercial logic behind sequels has become difficult to ignore. In October 2024, actor and filmmaker Biraj Bhatta released ‘12 Gaun,’ a film credited with reviving the long-dormant action genre in Nepali cinema. After grossing more than Rs190 million, Bhatta quickly announced ‘12 Gaun 2’. He is currently filming the sequel, aiming for a Dashain release.

Yet not all sequels are born entirely from commercial calculation. Some filmmakers argue that recurring characters naturally create their own narrative momentum.

When director Pradip Bhattarai released ‘Jatra’ in 2016, he had no intention of turning it into a franchise. The film went on to become a major commercial success.

“When I made ‘Jatra’, I never imagined a sequel or a series,” Bhattarai says. “But we had left the ending open. The futures of the three main characters were not entirely resolved. After seeing the audience’s affection and demand, we decided to make ‘Jatrai Jatra’.”

Bhattarai says the sequel was built by extending a small narrative thread from the first film. The sequel eventually led to ‘Mahajatra’ in 2023, transforming the original film into a trilogy.

“If audiences reject the first film or if it fails commercially, there is no point making a sequel,” he says. “Sequels are only made after receiving audience support. This is common practice worldwide.”

Yet Bhattarai insists that writing sequels is far from easy.

“You do not have the same creative freedom in a sequel that you have with a completely new film,” he explains. “The characters are already established, and the earlier story sets boundaries. You have very little room to experiment because you must remain within those limits.”

That tension between audience familiarity and artistic freshness often determines whether sequels survive critically.

When Nischal Basnet released Loot on January 13, 2012, the film significantly transformed Nepali cinema through urban realism, colloquial dialogue and morally ambiguous protagonists. The film changed not only narrative style but also acting techniques and cinematic perspective. Grossing more than Rs50 million, it achieved a level of commercial success that was rare for the industry at the time.

Five years later, Basnet released ‘Loot 2’. Although the sequel earned more than Rs100 million, critics considered it far weaker than the original. Many argued that the sequel existed less because the narrative demanded continuation and more because the market demanded familiarity.

That criticism has increasingly followed many Nepali sequels.

Director Upendra Subba’s ‘Jaari’ (2023) was praised for authentically portraying Limbu culture and opening space for stories from diverse communities. The film reportedly earned around Rs170 million.

Following ‘Jaari’, Subba directed ‘Mansara’ in 2024 before releasing ‘Jaari 2’ in 2025. However, the sequel failed to recreate either the emotional resonance or commercial strength of the original, earning only around Rs60 million.

A similar fate met ‘Prasad 2’. Director Dinesh Raut’s ‘Prasad’ (2018) had succeeded both critically and commercially, becoming known for its emotional restraint and performances. But its sequel, directed by Sudarshan Thapa, struggled to uphold the emotional depth of the original.

There, however, are other sequels that occupy a more complicated space between commerce and narrative continuation.

Dipendra K. Khanal’s ‘Pashupati Prasad’ remains one of the most critically admired Nepali films of the past decade. Shot within the narrow lanes surrounding the Pashupatinath temple area, the film combined a modest physical setting with a broad social and philosophical theme. Veteran actor Nir Shah even described it at public events as the “film of the century”. The film earned around Rs55 million, a major achievement at the time.

In 2023, a sequel, ‘Pashupati Prasad 2: Bhasme Don’, emerged because the character Bhasme’s transformation remained incomplete at the end of the first film.

“At the end of the first film, the character Bhasme was left in a state of incomplete transformation,” Khanal says. “We wanted to complete that character’s journey.”

Still, he acknowledges the anxiety involved in revising beloved films.

“I was terrified about how audiences would react to a sequel to such a significant film,” he says. “That fear often strips away the soul of a film.”

The sequel failed to generate similar enthusiasm from audiences or critics. For Khanal, money was not the goal for making a sequel.

“If that was the case, we would have made the sequel within two or three years,” he says. “We wanted to revisit that world and see what happened to Bhasme and that environment a decade later.”

Alongside direct continuations, another type of sequel has emerged in Nepali cinema lately: the “brand sequel”. In such films, only the title continues while the story changes entirely.

The clearest example is the ‘Chhakka Panja’ series created by Deepak Raj Giri and Deepa Shree Niraula. Although each instalment tells a different story, the franchise continues under the same commercially valuable banner because audiences already recognise the brand.

“It is not that we have never considered telling stories under new names,” Giri says. “But the moment we move away from recognised titles, distributors and cinema owners become unwilling to take risks. That is why we are compelled to continue with familiar brands.”

Several Nepali franchises, including ‘A Mero Hajur’, ‘Nai Nabhannu La’ and ‘Chhadke’, appear to function in a similar way, using familiar titles to attract audiences while presenting unrelated and different plots.

Khanal, who directed ‘Ke Ghar Ke Dera: Ghar No. 2’ after ‘Ke Ghar Ke Dera’, argues that such projects should not necessarily be viewed as direct sequels.

“This is not a sequel but a series,” he says. “The name remains the same, but the story changes. Filmmakers are naturally tempted by the brand value of earlier films, so they continue using those titles.”

Film critic Yangesh believes this distinction between narrative continuation and brand extension is central to understanding Nepal’s sequel boom.

In Hollywood, franchises like Jason Bourne or The Godfather Part II are often seen not as repetitions, but as continuations that expand character psychology and narrative consequence across multiple instalments. In such cases, the sequel becomes part of a longer structural design rather than an afterthought.

“When I watch most Nepali sequels, I seldom feel they surpass the original film,” he says. The issue, he suggests, is not the existence of sequels, but what they are actually trying to extend — a story or a brand.

But in Nepal, Yangesh argues, sequels still remain heavily market-driven.

“It is rare to find a second or third instalment that is truly stronger than the first,” he says. “That does not mean sequels should stop being made. The real issue is whether the sequel genuinely continues the story or merely uses the title for other motives.