'HIT 3' Released On OTT: Are 'HIT 1' And 'HIT 2' Connected? The Right Order To Watch The Movies

The third instalment of the popular suspense thriller, HIT broke many box office records when it was released on May 1 2025. After a month of a successful box office run, HIT: The Third Case is now available on Netflix. The film caters to the audience in five languages, which are Telugu, Hindi, Kannada, Malyalam and Tamil. 

Written and directed by Sailesh Kolanu, all three movies — HIT: The First Case, HIT: The Second Case and HIT: The Third Case, have built a film universe of suspense, serial killers, and intense police officers chasing the tails of ruthless murderers and solving mysteries. However, now that all the films are available on OTT platforms, many cine-lovers who had missed out on the chance to watch them on the big screens are excited to catch up on all three films.

Are HIT 1 and HIT 2 connected? 

HIT: The First Case starred actor, Vishwak Sen as the protagonist 'SP Vikram Rudraraju IPS'. While in HIT: The Second Case, Adivi Sesh portrayed the lead role of 'SP Krishna Dev (KD) IPS'. Both of these movies share the same universe and show the Homicide Intervention Team (HIT) led by an IPS officer trying to solve crimes. In all the instalments, the protagonist changes, and the crime is solved at the end of the film. Hence, the different stories share a universe and sometimes refer to the previous cases.

Do you have to watch HIT 1 and HIT 2 to understand HIT 3? 

Telugu superstar, Nani was the producer for the first two films of the HIT franchise. However, for HIT: The Third Case, the film producer stepped into the role of the lead character, 'SP Arjun Sarkaar IPS'. In this film, Nani plays the role of an IPS officer in jail, narrating the story of how and why he committed a heinous crime. Though some of the plot points make references to the previous two films, the audience can still watch it as a stand-alone, even without any prior knowledge of the last two films. 

Reddit users who have viewed all the films answered this question and said that there are small references of the previous films which can be missed out and the viewer would still understand the story. One user also commented that, "Whatever info is connected they recap it with 1-2 sec of clips from the first film. You can just watch it as a brand new film which gets things which happened off screen into this movie and there's gonna be nothing that you missed."

All the HIT movies share a universe 

All three instalments are part of the same universe and hence share themes and narratives. So, all the cases are individually interesting and do not follow any sequential order. However, since all three films are written and directed by the same person, watching the franchise films in the order that they were made might enhance the cinema viewing experience. It will also make the viewers more connected to the theme and the flow of the stories. Writer, Sailesh Kolanu had reportedly collected real-life crime stories from other countries and written the screenplays of all three films. 

Spoiler alert! Tamil superstar, Karthi to star in HIT: The Fourth Case 

The Nani starrer, HIT: The Third Case, ended with a surprise cameo that filled all the movie theatres with whistles. Tamil superstar Karthi of Ponniyan Selvan fame came on screen during mid-credits. The film introduces him as 'ACP Veerappan IPS' of Chennai, who discovers a body hidden in a truck at a checkpoint. This gives major hints towards HIT: The Fourth Case. The HIT franchise was primarily for the Telugu-speaking audience. However, the introduction of the Tamil actor into the series seems like a deliberate move to make the franchise more pan-Indian. 

HIT 3 faces backlash after its release on OTT 

The scene that director, Sailesh Kolanu was most excited about was the one introducing Karthi. Even though that particular scene became a fan-favourite while the movie was running in theatres, HIT 3's OTT release has created an uproar among Telugu viewers. In Karthi's introduction scene, his character says, "Do you think I don’t know Telugu? I am bilingual", in the original Telugu version. However, in the Tamil dubbed version, his character uses the word 'G*lti', which is considered a slur for Telugu-speaking people.

What are your thoughts on the HIT franchise?  

Also Read: Nani's 'HIT 3' Faces Unexpected Backlash From Telugu Audience Soon After It's Release On Netflix

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