Images shared on Twitter by fan accounts. (courtesy: Mr_Ranchoddas)
As Yash Raj Films continues to bask in the success of Pathaan, reports have surfaced online that claim that Aditya Chopra is planning to merge the Dhoom with the Spy universe. However, such rumours were later refuted by a source close to the production banner, who told ANI that Aditya Chopra wants to grow both separately and hence won't merge the two. "Dhoom franchise and YRF Spy Universe are now two of the biggest IPs in the history of Indian cinema and Aditya Chopra, who owns both these IPs, will never merge the two because he would want to grow them separately. YRF Spy Universe is a world of super spies and Dhoom is the world of anti-establishment anti-heroes. They can't come together. He will protect the sanctity of these two universes and grow them separately to make them even bigger IPs in the years to come," the source told ANI.
The source also went on to clarify that no characters of these two universes will be seen overlapping.
"So, no you won't see any characters from these Universes to overlap in either franchise. Story wise also it doesn't make sense at all. So, all this talk is completely baseless that Jai Dixit will be seen in the YRF Spy Universe. No one from Dhoom will be seen in the YRF Spy Universe and vice versa," the source was quoted telling ANI.
Earlier, a report by Pinkvilla had claimed that Aditya Chopra is planning to integrate Abhishek Bachchan's ACP Jai Dixit, who was a cop in the Dhoom series, into his spy universe along with Pathaan, Tiger, and Kabir.
“It is a known fact that in YRF's spy universe, Pathaan, Tiger, and Kabir's paths are bound to cross each other at some point, making the franchise bigger with every forthcoming film. Dhoom's Jai Dixit is also an important character backed by the production house, and Adi is keen to integrate him into the upcoming movies. How that happens is yet to be seen, as concrete writing on that front hasn't begun yet. However, Abhishek Bachchan's Jai Dixit does certainly have a future in the spy universe. All these films will be mounted on a large scale, and the writers and the filmmakers at YRF are excited to explore this opportunity,” a source close to the development was quoted telling Pinkvilla.
Salman Khan had made a special appearance in the movie Pathaan thereby reprising his role of YRF's other spy hero, Tiger. The coming together of two Bollywood superstars in one frame had set social media abuzz with many speculating about Shah Rukh's cameo in the upcoming film Tiger 3. Joining the bandwagon was also Hrithik Roshan's character from the movies War namely Kabir.
Dhoom, the first in the series, was directed by Sanjay Gadhvi and released in 2004. Abhishek Bachchan, John Abraham, Uday Chopra, Esha Deol, and Rimi Sen played important parts in the film which was later expanded into a franchise with Abhishek Bachchan and Uday Chopra's characters remaining constant. Hrithik Roshan and Aamir Khan played the roles of an antagonist in Dhoom 2 and 3 respectively.
Meanwhile, Pathaan, which has shattered box office records since it was released on January 25, stars Shah Rukh Khan as a RAW agent who teams up with Deepika against a terrorist played by John Abraham.