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Will Drishyam 2 lead to Drishyam 3?
I watched “Drishyam 2” with my family at a vintage theater in Saki Naka in west Mumbai. It was the last day of my stay in the city. The theater, sadly, was completely rundown. I watched the film literally on the edge of my seat, praying that a critter wouldn’t crawl up my arm! It was an out-of -body experience, just not the kind I was going for when I came to watch the 2022 Hindi crime thriller that grossed over US$38 million worldwide, becoming the eighth highest-grossing Indian film of 2022.
“Drishyam 2” is a sequel to the 2015 film “Drishyam”, both movies based on eponymous Malayalam blockbusters.
While “Drishyam” followed the travails of Vijay Salgaonkar (played by Ajay Devgn) trying to shield his family from the aftermath of a heinous crime, “Drishyam 2” is a revenge saga of a mother – Meera Deshmukh, played by the brilliant Tabu – who leaves no stone unturned to uncover the remains of her murdered son.
The murder of Sameer “Sam” Deskhmukh (Meera’s son) sets off a whodunit that sees Vijay Salgaonakar always in the ambit of suspicion, but never convicted.
The mystery kicks off with David Braganza (Siddharth Bodke), a young man fleeing the police after a murder. David is arrested, but Sam’s murder remains unsolved. Seven years later, Vijay and his family are leading a comfortable life, with Vijay operating a successful cable company, suggestively called “Mirage Cables”. His wife Nandini (Shriya Saran), distraught that her daughter is suffering from PTSD and epilepsy, and that she is rumored to have had a relationship with the now-dead Sam, inadvertently confides in a sympathetic neighbor and undercover cop. This misplaced confidence sets the ball rolling and the police are on Salgaonkar’s heels with a vengeance. Vijay is put on trial for Sam’s murder and the remains of a body are uncovered based on his confession. But a plot twist, a fiction book that mirrors the mystery, and a failed DNA match, set Vijay free.
Will Sam’s mother Meera concede? Will there be a “Drishyam 3”?
Drishyam 2’s Cast and Crew Shine
Set in Goa, this Hindi adaptation pays homage to Jeethu Joseph, director of the Malayalam originals set in Kerala. Tabu as Meera Deshmukh, with her swollen eyes, puffy face and stern hairdo, looks the part of an angry, grieving mother and police inspector. Akshaye Khanna, as the smug Inspector General of Goa Police, gets a lot of play. His friendly visit to Vijay’s home feels ominous and makes the viewer squirm along with the Salgaonkar girls, as he probes their personal artifacts, drinks their tea, uses their bathroom and even plucks a flower from a jasmine plant in their garden.
But it is Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar who steers the film with an understated ease. No one, not even Vijay’s wife, is privy to the machinations of his brain. He appears calm as a swan, seemingly floating while peddling fiercely under water.
Neha Joshi as Jenny Thomas –Nandini’s and Vijay’s friendly neighbor and abused wife– plays her part as an undercover cop to perfection. Prathamesh Parab as Jose, Vijay’s cable boy, reminds me of so many young men of his age lacking direction. Sharad Butadiya as Martin, owner of a restaurant outside Pondolem Police Station, seems very familiar and has an air of someone who has seen a lot in his lifetime.
A Real Message About Living Life Privately
Apart from the thrill of a police procedural, the narrative has a real message about how to live life privately without oversharing with family, friends or strangers. There are some blood-curdling scenes in “Drishyam 2” but the plot is not as convoluted as “Drishyam”.
The film is produced by T-Series, Panorama Studios and Viacom. The original script by Jeethu Joseph was ably adapted into the Hindi screenplay by Aamil Khan and Abhishek Pathak (also director). Music is composed by Devi Sri Prasad and lyrics are by Amitabh Bhattacharya.
Sudhir K Chaudhary’s cinematography casts a spell. The atmospherics were so overpowering that even after we left the theater, I felt I was still living the story; the people around us could have been straight out of the movie. Everything was so surreal. I wanted to get out post haste and flagged an autorickshaw, but the driver apparently could get us nowhere beyond a one-mile radius. The Muslim call for prayer was echoing around us. By now I was all nerves! Luckily, my daughter had called our hotel’s travel desk and after 20 minutes of utter discomfiture, a sedan arrived. We piled in and drove out of that congested area.
You don’t need to watch “Drishyam 2” at a rundown theater for that extra thrill. Watch it from the comfort of your home on Amazon Prime Video.