India, Oct. 13 -- The year began on a high note for Bollywood with Border 2 crossing Rs.300 crore at the box office. It set the ball rolling, and films like Dhurandhar The Revenge, Cocktail 2, Welcome To The Jungle, Dhamaal 4, Awarapan 2, and Drishyam 3 kept the cash registers ringing. What explains the audience's strong response to franchises? Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says it's the combination of familiarity and strong content. "A franchise always has a recall value, and can attract the audience on day one, but the content has to do the talking," he says. Director of Ashirwad Theatres Akkshay Rathie agrees, citing an example: "Awarapan was a flop, but Awarapan 2 ended up becoming (actor) Emraan Hashmi's biggest film till date. The franchise's familiarity gave the film wings to fly." Last year saw big-budget sequels like War 2, Son of Sardar 2 and Baaghi 4 flop. Trade analyst Atul Mohan believes filmmakers learnt the importance of right packaging. Mohan is hopeful for 2027, which begins with Golmaal 5. "Golmaal, as a brand, has been the most successful film franchise, so we are hoping 2027 starts with a bang," he says. Rathie expects this year's successes to spur more sequels but hopes they are backed by "a solid story"....