When Drishyam released in 2015, two years after the original Malayalam thriller of the same name starring Mohanlal, it became an instant hit not only because of its engaging premise and intriguing twists and turns, but also because a large majority of the Hindi film-watching audience hadn’t been as exposed to so-called regional cinema. Seven years ago, ‘OTT’ wasn’t a part of our vocabulary and we weren’t as proficient in ‘reading’ films along with ‘watching’ them. .
Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam, directed by Nishikant Kamat, was a faithful copy of Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam original, and most of us liked the Hindi adaptation so much that we went back to the Malayalam film once it became available on streaming. When Drishyam 2: The Resumption, once again starring Mohanlal as the protagonist, released directly on streaming in 2021, the Drishyam franchise in all languages — Malayalam and Hindi apart, it’s been remade in Kannada, Tamil and even Sinhala and Chinese — had become so strong, that most tuned in on Day One of release.
Drishyam 2, released in Hindi on Friday, rides on that popularity wave. It’s been a much-awaited sequel, with many of us not remembering what happened in our lives yesterday, but being able to rattle off what Vijay Salgaokar (Devgn) and his family were up to on October 2, 2014. But even as interest around Drishyam 2 remains high, and that will definitely translate into decent footfalls over the weekend, it also can’t be denied that many in the audience would have watched the original when they walk in.
And Drishyam 2 is a carbon copy of well, Drishyam 2. Which, to be honest, is a very tricky tightrope to walk on for any adaptation/ remake, but most of all for a thriller. You know when the game is about to change, you spy the big twist a mile away, revisiting the film in just a different language. For those who haven’t watched the original though, Drishyam 2 does live up to the edge-of-the-seat template that tantalised us so much in the first film.
The thriller aspect apart, the Drishyam films work because of the hero in the middle who may seem to be an underdog, but is anything but. In fact, like the first film, Vijay turns his on-the-surface weakness into an intangible strength, always managing to stay a few steps ahead of the cops and keeping the viewer on tenterhooks. At the end of the day, Vijay resonates with the audience because he’s just a middle-class man pulling out all the stops to protect his family at any cost. The films make us root for him, believing that even though the murder that was committed was not right, it’s context and circumstances warranted the act.
Drishyam 2 — with debutant Abhishek Pathak slipping into the directors’ chair after the demise of Nishikant Kamat two years ago — follows the beats of the first film. The opening is a tad slow, but that’s deliberately done to build the pressure cooker-like tension, that ultimately sees Vijay, his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) and their daughter Anju (Ishita Dutta) being put under the scanner. The cops are sniffing at Vijay’s toes, still looking for that elusive body that he buried seven years ago, and things speed up when a new top cop (played by Akshaye Khanna) arrives, as does Tabu’s Meera, a mother and a law enforcer who is equal parts vengeful and grieving.
“Sawaal yeh nahin hai ki aapke aankhon ke saamne kya hain, sawaal hain ki aap kya dekh rahe ho?” Drishyam 2 follows this classic template that defines every effective thriller, reminding us of what Amitabh Bachchan said in Badla, another crisp thriller-remake, “Kya main wahin chhay dekh raha hoon jo tumne mujhe dikhaya ya woh nau jo mujhe dekhna chahiye tha?”
Building on this ambiguity of thought and intent, Drishyam 2 keeps the tension taut, making the viewer believe that only he’s privy to the protagonist’s secret, and then has the rug pulled out from under our feet at the last minute. That’s the hallmark of a potent thriller, and Drishyam 2 manages to remain that, even as a remake.
