Dinesh Vijan reveals how the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe came to be, explains why Stree 3 won’t release in 2026
Since the very beginning of its origin, Dinesh Vijan’s production house Maddock Films has churned out quality content, may it be Love Aaj Kal (2009) or Cocktail (2012). But in 2018, when Dinesh joined forces with director Amar Kaushik for Stree, the dynamic duo opened the gates to a whole new world, which went on to form our beloved Maddock Horror Comedy Universe. Despite being one whole universe, which is connected in one way or the other, the content in the films has not been repetitive — may it be Stree 2 (2024), Munjya (2024), Bhediya (2022) or the recently released Thamma. During a recent interview on The Right Angle with Sonal Kalra, Dinesh Vijan shared how he achieved this feat and how the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe came to be.
Talking about creating a universe with certain kinds of films without being repetitive, Dinesh Vijan explained, “Someone very wise told me that when you’re making films, keep them in a box. It was a gentleman called Chuck Roven who produces all of Christopher Nolan’s films, he’s done most of them. And he told Deepika (Padukone) and me this in 2012, and it stayed with me. So when Stree happened, I understood. There should be an ability to meet. Don’t change the physics if you want some people to meet. That’s how the idea of the universe came.”
Referring to Munjya (2024) and Stree, the filmmaker shared, “They are completely different worlds. The family conflict… So we are very conscious to not repeat. That is why we’re not bringing Stree 3 next year, you know, which most people would want to do, right? Even us. It just makes more sense to come. There’s a journey to it. So we are trying to… the way I look at it is, I’m from a joint family. We love a big family atmosphere. So, the universe is a family and it’s got different kind of characters. No one’s similar. So when you watch Thamma you’ll realise it’s nothing like Munjya. Even the family drama, if you look at it, the father-son conflict here is very different to the father-son conflict in Stree. So as long as you don’t try and repeat the same equations — Stree is three bunch of friends, the other is a brother, a cousin and him who happen to be from Stree, go into a forest (Bhediya), Munjya is like I like this girl but even Munjya likes this girl, what’s going to happen, it’s a triangle.”
Calling Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer Thamma superlative, Dinesh went on to explain, “So if you look at it, it should be connected, but it should not be similar and you are conscious about it. So that’s what we’re trying to do. But because, so what happens is when you have a big family, you have a lot of family politics. And you are really interested while having chai ki isne kya kiya. So that’s what the universe is. And I really feel that more in Delhi right now, because I spoke to a few people yesterday and I was so happy to see that actually they have their own theories (about the universe), of what’s going to happen. Like what is Stree’s relationship with Munjya and what’s going to happen. We are also conscious with it and we have a team evolving it. So I think because we love a big fat family, that’s why the universe. Being conscious that every character is special in its own right, and not one size fits all.”
Up next, the roster of the Maddock Horror Comedy Universe includes Shakti Shalini starring Aneet Padda, Varun Dhawan’s much-awaited Bhediya 2, Chamunda which reportedly stars Alia Bhatt, Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao’s Stree 3, Maha Munjya, Pehla Mahayudh and Doosara Mahayudh. Which one are you most excited for?
