The first Drishyam film (2015) looms large in the sequel, not just in terms of the case, the place and the people but also in its impact and cleverness. So Drishyam 2 is very clearly not for those who haven’t watched the first and been absolutely bowled over.
Drishyam 2, directed by Abhishek Pathak, is more of an adaptation of the 2021 Malayalam film of the same name rather than a remake and is as full of intriguing and unexpected twists and turns as the first film was. It’s been seven years since the case against the Salgaonkars was closed and Ajay Devgn’s “chauthi pass” cable operator Vijay Salgaonkar is now the owner of a multiplex and seems to be thriving. Rumours about him and the ‘Sam Deshmukh case’ haven’t died down though and the family, especially Vijay’s wife Nandini (Shriya Sharan) and older daughter Anju (Ishita Dutta), live in constant panic of being found out.
The panic seems to be justified when the new inspector general, Tarun Ahlawat (Akshaye Khanna), who turns out to be Meera Deshmukh’s (Tabu) batchmate, reopens the case of the disappearance of Meera’s son, Sam. And it seems like Tarun, who is “sanki” but a genius at cracking cases, is about to outfox Vijay and out-box Sam’s skeleton. But will the Bollywood-loving Vijay confess if cornered? Will Nandini and Anju finally break and let it all out?
Despite a slow first half, Drishyam 2 keeps you hooked till the last big twist and you can’t help but enjoy the game of cat and mouse that once again ensues between Vijay and the police. The film is at its best in the last 30 minutes of its 140-min runtime. Ajay Devgn again delivers a pitch perfect performance as a man of limited emotions. His happiness is as muted as his anxiety, his calm as deadly as his urgency. His looks and his slo-mo walks are enough to have an impact.
Akshaye Khanna as the cop against whom Vijay goes up in round two brings a certain creepiness and menace to the role as opposed to the righteous deadliness of Meera, no matter how wooden his expressions are. And it seems believable that a cop who is not beyond stepping outside the system might be the one who trips up Vijay. Which is why, it is such a disappointment that apart from the mind games he plays with the Salgaonkar family, it is a lucky (and convenient) incident that helps him break the case, and not anything he actually ends up figuring out.
Which brings me to my biggest peeve about the film. Where every twist and turn in Drishyam was cleverly done and methodically planned, some of Drishyam 2’s pivotal plot points seem too convenient, whether it is characters in strategic places who just happen to be unbelievably gullible or unbelievable occurrences like law enforcement buildings without CCTVs. This hampers the taught storytelling that made the first film such an edge-of-the-seat delight.
The other problem is one of morality. Where in Drishyam one felt for the frantic desperation of a man trying to keep his family safe when faced with an impossible situation, here it feels a little too much like Vijay enjoys the challenge of out-manoeuvering the police. It is still a murder, intentional or not, and taking the police on a merry chase seems a little off-colour.
But it does do one thing. It does make you feel guilty for rooting for Vijay (which happens especially after a dose of Tarun’s ickiness). Especially when you are faced with the grief of Meera (Tabu steals every scene she is in and we think she should have had more screen time) and her determination to have justice for her son, no matter how horrible he was. It is difficult to look at the grieving mother, especially after rooting for the man who is the cause of her not getting any closure. And if this discomfort among the audience is deliberate, then Drishyam 2 is more effective than I thought.
