Abhishek Pathak, director of “Drishyam: The Conclusion,” says the Hindi franchise’s third installment tells an entirely new story unconnected to the Malayalam original, with Ajay Devgn returning as Vijay Salgaonkar for what Pathak calls the character’s darkest chapter yet.
The “Drishyam” franchise centers on a family man who covers up an accidental killing to protect his wife and daughters, then finds himself locked in a battle of wits with the police officer investigating the case.
“It’s completely different. It’s a new story. It’s nothing to do with Malayalam. It’s a very different film altogether,” Pathak tells Variety of the Hindi-language film film, which departs from Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam “Drishyam 3” after the point where both franchises’ second installments ended.
Pathak, who produced the first Hindi “Drishyam” and directed “Drishyam 2,” says the new title signals a definitive ending rather than a setup for a fourth film, even though the Malayalam version left that door open. “This is where I’m ending the film beautifully, where all the resolution comes to an end eventually,” he says, adding he has not written a story that would extend the franchise further, though he stops short of ruling it out entirely.
The screenplay took about two years to complete, a process Pathak began after “Drishyam 2” opened in 2022. He says he spent time reading fan theories online before identifying gaps in Vijay Salgaonkar’s story to build the new plot around. “That’s the main game of screenplay writing,” he says, describing the challenge of staying ahead of an audience he says has grown sharper with each installment at predicting the character’s next move. He adds that he is not worried about box office numbers specifically, arguing that audiences reward good content regardless. “Numbers are going berserk right now,” he says. “If you give them a good, entertaining film, they come to watch it in theaters.”
Pathak also points to the spoiler culture around theatrical releases as a challenge distinct from the writing itself. He notes that the Malayalam “Drishyam 2” was available on a streaming platform while the Hindi “Drishyam 2” was still running in theaters, yet he did not see audiences posting spoilers online after watching the Hindi version on its opening weekend. He credits that restraint to viewers wanting to protect the experience for others rather than any ability to control what gets shared.
Pathak describes Vijay Salgaonkar as increasingly morally ambiguous across the three films, anchored by one constant. “That’s been the core of this film from part one itself, anything for family,” he says, adding the character grows more intense and “evolved into more darker shades” while audiences continue to root for him despite his actions falling outside the law.
Of Devgn’s performance, Pathak points to restraint rather than the physicality the actor is known for elsewhere. “He doesn’t speak much as a character in the film. It’s all about him just thinking,” he says, noting Vijay Salgaonkar never resorts to violence across all three films.
Jaideep Ahlawat (“Paatal Lok”) joins the cast as a new investigating officer. “You will see a very different Jaideep Ahlawat. I don’t think he’s done something like this before,” Pathak says.
The “Drishyam” story has traveled widely since Jeethu Joseph’s original Malayalam film starring Mohanlal opened in 2013. It was remade in Kannada as “Drishya” and in Telugu as “Drushyam,” both in 2014, and in Tamil as “Papanasam” in 2015, with Kamal Haasan in the lead and Joseph again directing. The Hindi version, starring Devgn and Tabu, also arrived in 2015, followed by a Sinhala remake and the Chinese adaptation “Sheep Without a Shepherd” in 2019. Joseph’s Malayalam sequel arrived in 2021, with Pathak’s Hindi “Drishyam 2” following in 2022. The Malayalam “Drishyam 3” opened earlier this year and has grossed INR239 crore ($25 million). Panorama Studios, which holds the Hindi and international remake rights, is now developing Korean, Spanish and English versions of the franchise, while limiting its own Indian-language output to Hindi.
“We are done with the Korean script right now. We are going to shoot right now. There’s a Spanish one which is starting off, and there’s an English version which we are working on right now at the same time,” Pathak says, adding that international collaborators have responded quickly once they read the screenplay. Locally, he says Panorama has no plans for versions in other Indian languages.
Pathak began his career as a director, assisting Anurag Kashyap and Luv Ranjan before returning from film school in New York in 2008. The following year, he wrote, directed and edited the short film “Boond,” a 26-minute Hindi-language drama set in a future village stricken by water scarcity, which won the Indian National Film Award for Best Short Fiction Film. He then moved into producing, including Ranjan’s “Pyaar Ka Punchnama,” before stepping back into the director’s chair with “Drishyam 2.”
As a producer, Pathak has just announced a horror film starring Devgn. On the directing side, he says he is developing ideas spanning science fiction and horror, and will not begin writing until he settles on a story. He says he is interested in long-form streaming projects eventually but feels Indian streaming content still lags behind global standards.
Asked about franchise spinoffs, Pathak points to the recurring supporting character Gaitonde as an example of the world’s potential to expand. “There’s obviously interesting characters which we have in the film. Gaitonde, for example, has been a quirky character throughout all the parts,” he says, though he adds there are no current plans for a spinoff or derivative project.
“Drishyam: The Conclusion” is produced by Panorama Studios and releases Oct. 2.
English (US) ·