‘Drishyam The Conclusion’ director Abhishek Pathak on crafting the Hindi original and its memetic afterlife

Drishyam The Conclusionmaintains its deceptive streak. The flimsy mind games of Ajay Devgn’s Vijay Salgaonkar turn into a fulfilling spectacle in the final part of the famed franchise. As the film continues to rake in numbers at the box office, director Abhishek Pathak is pleased with the outcome. “Finally, I have got a chance to take a break,” he says. “It has been overwhelming to see the reactions of people who are liking the film. It’s great to look at all of it while spending time with the family.”

Family is what drives Vijay to single-handedly outwit an entire system, whether it is tackling the wrath of the chain-smoking top cop, SP Rajveer Singh Tomar (Jaideep Ahlawat) , or challenging the logical arguments of the hot-shot lawyer, Indrajith Shetty (Prakash Raj). Vijay enters God-mode as he plants alibis and destroys evidence beyond imagination to have the last laugh. That’s what separates Vijay from Mohanlal’s Georgekutty, as the Hindi third part takes a markedly different approach from Jeetu Joseph’s Malayalam version, which was released earlier this year and leaned towards subdued psychological drama rather than the suspense-driven beats of Drishyam: The Conclusion. Abhishek reveals that the idea to make an original third part came after the release of Drishyam 2.

“While many loved the film, there was still a section of audiences who were still talking about the Malayalam version. Seeing that, I just felt that I had to make my own film next time. The craft cannot be ignored just because it’s taken from some other material. So, I told my writers to work on an original story and not wait for the Malayalam film to remake it,” says Abhishek, who has co-written the film with Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh.

Drishyam: The Conclusion is being considered to be better than Malayalam’s Drishyam 3, which received mixed reviews, with its screenplay coming under scrutiny. “We knew that we had to write well for people to like our film. There would be comparisons, and we wanted to set the benchmark with our writing and craft. That’s why we took a completely new approach to the franchise. I wanted to conclude it as a last original offering from our end,” Abhishek says.

The writer-director reached out to Jeetu Joseph when the film’s screenplay was ready and offered the Malayalam filmmaker to read the Hindi original. “I think they were still writing the screenplay of the Malayalam version. I am not too sure what stage they were at. But I told them that I can make them read our script. But they were sure not to do that. I am glad that ultimately they made their version and we made ours,” he says.

The difference in Abhishek’s approach to the third part is apparent in how he shapes the film as an entertainer following the rhythm of a gripping Bollywood spectacle, full of pulpy twists and dialoguebaazi. It carries that old-school charm of Hindi cinema where the hero takes on the powerful and emerges victorious by fighting an almost impossible-to-win battle. That’s the kind of films that Abhishek wants to make. “I don’t want to get into a space where only I am enjoying the whole nuance of the characters. I want general theatre-going audiences to have fun. We are not making films that will be watched only by a few in a room; we are making films for crores of people globally, who should be able to connect to it and enjoy,” he opines.

Perhaps that’s why the franchise has witnessed growing popularity on social media in the form of memes ever since the first part came out in 2015. The most viral among them is the one about October 2, the day when Vijay’s family supposedly went to an ashram in Drishyam, mainly to build an alibi. The third part releasing on the same date is a nod from the makers to the franchise’s vibrant afterlife. “There were few elements in the third part too that we knew would become memes,” Abhishek says. However, some surprised him, like the scene involving actor Ajit Singh Palawat, where he is part of a play, rehearsing the dialogue, “Sab madeera peeke sogaye (Everyone slept after having liquor)”, which has become a sensation on Instagram reels. “I never thought that it would go viral like this. We thought it was an absurd dialogue but never realised people would start talking about it and do reels. You don’t know what people will pick up and find funny,” says Abhishek.

Another talking point has been Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant), the foul, Marathi-accented, Hindi-speaking arch-rival of Vijay, who has been after the family since the murder happened in the first part. While the character had a serious tone in Drishyam, he shifts into comical touches this time, often becoming the medium for some meta-jokes. “We realised along the way that even though Gaitonde is not cracking any jokes, the way he talks as an actor is quite funny. So, we wrote some punches for him intentionally,” says the writer-director.

Beneath the comedic cover and thrilling beats, Drishyam: The Conclusion makes a point about truth and manipulation as Vijay masterfully deceives everyone around him. In these portions, as Vijay employs meticulous methods to fabricate reality, the film becomes an allegory for the post-truth world. Abhishek says they were aware of similar incidents and decided to use them in the film. “Everyone knows how it is so easy to send information that you want to go all around. If you use it wisely, it can help you, or it can damage you as well. All of that was in our head, and we wanted to use it in the story,” Abhishek says.

Even the screenplay becomes a device of deception, as it withholds important information for the grand reveal later. While talking about his relationship with truth as a filmmaker, Abhishek says he works on it right from the writing stage. “The audience needs to be immersed in the film; they should believe that what they are seeing is the truth,” he adds while giving an example of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. “Spielberg made us believe that dinosaurs can come to New York and everyone is enthralled with the experience. It is impossible in reality, but with the combination of good writing, performances, background score, and editing, everything is made to be so true that people forget reality,” he explains.

For Abhishek, the key to building suspense is spending time with the screenplay without rushing for the shoot. “A screenplay needs time to live and breathe. A film can become messy otherwise. Even after writing it, one still needs to spend more time with it to understand the loopholes,” he says. That’s what helped strengthen the beats in Drishyam The Conclusion, which were put to test in several narrations that Abhishek did with multiple people.

“I remember narrating the screenplay to so many people and then waiting for their reactions on some pivotal moments to see if they could figure out the twist. I used to stop midway and ask them what’s going to happen next. No one could really decipher. That’s how we realised that the suspense was working out,” he says.

Even after all this, conversations about the film are filled with remarks about logical inaccuracies, especially about tying up the loose ends. Abhishek reacts to this, saying, “We have thought about all of this. Maybe people need to watch the film again to clear their doubts. They are not looking closely enough. I really feel like commenting below such posts, but I avoid. I enjoy the chatter around it, whether it is negative or positive. The fact that people are talking about it is enough.”

Drishyam The Conclusion is currently running in theatres