Shashank Khaitan on 'Dulhania' franchise: Don't want to monetise it

Mumbai: Filmmaker Shashank Khaitan is aware that the third installment in his “Dulhania” franchise can do wonders at the box office but the director says he has not cracked an idea for it yet and would not make a new film to cash in on its success.

Khaitan made his directorial debut with “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania” featuring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt.

He followed it up with “Badrinath Ki Dulhania” with the same pairing and says he is often tempted to continue the story with a third part.

“I want to do a part three of the ‘Dulhania’ franchise. It’s tempting, but for the right reason and not the wrong ones. I don’t want to make it to monetise it. Varun, Alia, Karan (Johar) and I are clear that we don’t want to do it for money,” Khaitan told PTI.

The director, who helmed last year’s “Dhadak”, said he needs to first crack a great script.

“With every year content is becoming the king. It’s fairly obvious across all mediums that people want to see good, unique stories. If I can think of a story which naturally leads itself to the franchise, I’ll do it in a heartbeat. But none of us want to push it down people’s throat.”

The director says he has often come up with ideas along with his leading cast but none of them have really worked.

“I’ve not consciously sat down to write it. Sometimes Varun, Alia and I have come up with an idea to immediately realise it’s a bad one, and we shouldn’t be stupid. It’s taken a lot of work to create this loved franchise. We want to come with honesty and not make it to cash in on the franchise.