Producer-director
Dinesh
Vijan
is
a
man
with
a
plan.
Vijan,
who
last
year
produced
Rajkummar
Rao
and
Shraddha
Kapoor-starrer
Stree,
hopes
to
build
cinematic
universe
in
the
horror-comedy
genre.
After
Stree,
the
producer
on
Wednesday
announced
horror-comedy,
Rooh-Afza,
which
he
will
follow-up
with
"Munjha",
another
project
in
the
same
space.
"There
are
three
horror
comedies
which
are
being
developed
and
then
they
will
start
meeting
(at
some
point).
There
will
be
'Stree
2',
after
'Rooh-Afza'
and
'Munjha'.
After
that
there
will
be
'Rooh-Afza
2'
and
'Munjha
2'.
The
sequels
will
kind
of
meet
each
other,
just
cross
paths," Vijan
told
PTI
in
an
interview.
The
producer
says
while
shooting
for
"Stree",
which
was
one
of
the
major
hits
of
2018,
they
started
developing
"Rooh-Afza",
about
a
singing
ghost
who
puts
grooms
to
sleep
on
their
wedding
nights
to
possess
their
brides.
He
said
the
third
film,
Munjha,
will
revolve
around
a
male
ghost
looking
for
his
bride.
Stree
was
about
a
female
ghost
terrorising
the
male
population
of
a
small
town.
"It
has
been
in
the
planning
stage
from
the
last
two
years.
There
are
three
different
teams
who
don't
know
each
other
and
have
developed
the
three
films.
But
I
have
a
blueprint
in
my
mind
that
I'm
going
to
make
all
the
three
films
meet.
So
the
last
shot
of
'Munjha' will
meet
'Rooh-Afza'
and
so
on."
The
idea
of
creating
a
franchise
crossed
Vijan's
mind
when
he
met
a
Hollywood
artiste,
who
has
worked
on
all
of
Christopher
Nolan's
films,
and
they
talked
about
cinematic
universes.
For
the
grand
plan
to
work,
both
"Rooh-Afza"
and
"Munjha"
have
to
work
and
the
producer
is
aware
of
it.
"I'm
betting
big
on
the
next
two
films
and
we
need
to
up
the
game.
'Munjha' needs
to
be
a
better
film
than
'Stree'.
'Rooh-Afza'
has
to
be
a
balancing
factor.
Then,
I
will
have
my
universe
in
the
next
five
years,"
he
says.
If
all
goes
well,
the
finale
of
the
universe
could
be
a
two-part
or
three-part
series
where
everything
comes
together.
"So
let's
assume
2023
is
where
all
the
films
should
meet.
This
year
will
be
'Rooh-Afza',
2020
will
be
'Munjha'
and
2021
will
be
'Stree
2'.
Sometime
later
that
year,
there
will
be
'Rooh-Afza
2'
and
then
2022
will
be
'Munjha
2'.
Then
you
do
that
massive
film
where
all
these
meet."
With
Rao
recurring
in
"Rooh-Afza",
Vijan
hopes
other
cast
members
would
also
return
in
the
future
though
there
is
no
contract
in
place.
"Raj
is
like
'ghar
ka'
(a
family
member).
Also
they
all
want
to
return.
Why
will
you
leave
your
franchise?
I
don't
do
legal
binding.
I
don't
believe
in
it.
I
feel
I
have
been
blessed
with
actors
who
all
have
trust
in
me.
They
all
want
to
be
part
of
'Stree
2'.
This
is
the
universe
and
that's
why
Raj
is
also
in
'Rooh-Afza'," he
says.
The
producer
is
currently
promoting
rom-com
Luka
Chuppi,
which
features
Kriti
Sanon
and
Kartik
Aaryan.
The
film
hits
the
theatres
Friday.
Credits
-
PTI