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A deviant young man tries to act smart with a young lady, Anju (Ishita Dutta). Her mother, Nandini (Shriya Saran) and she have a confrontation with him. The spoilt brat refuses to see reason. In a moment of desperation, he is hit on the head. And dies.
That was Drishyam 11 years ago. Nandini’s husband, the stolid Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn), a video library owner, comes home to see his wife and daughter in this dire situation. His only thought is to protect them at any costs. He buries the body, gets rid of the lad’s car and then comes the shock. The boy is found to be the son of Meera (Tabu) and Mahesh (Rajat Kapoor) Deshmukh, and the former is a top cop. Suspicion lands on Vijay and his family. The search for the body intensifies, but Vijay cleverly creates a detailed alibi for the entire clan, including younger daughter Anu (Mrunal Jadhav). At the end of this film, though brutally interrogated by the cops, they go scot-free.
Based on a Malayalam film with the same name written and directed by Jeethu Joseph, this remake did good business. And then the Malayalam sequel, Drishyam 2, was made during the pandemic. This time, the new director, Abhishek Pathak, decided to modify the original as remakes had become kind of passe due to viewers watching all the originals on OTT during the phase.
The new film, which ingeniously saw Vijay grow from a video library owner to a movie theatre owner and would-be film producer, was a superhit in the way it was also modified. A fourth standard school dropout, Vijay again outsmarts the cops as Meera takes the case further with another ruthless colleague.
And so, quite naturally, Pathak had to follow the story with Drishyam The Conclusion being a completely different plot from the Malayalam third film in the series, Drishyam 3. The latter has not been well-appreciated back in Kerala and was panned for being a forced sequel. But Pathak had to work out his own finale based on his second part. Thinking backwards, just like Agatha Christie, would do in her whodunits, he has come up with a classic culmination to an epic family crime franchise of the kind never witnessed on the Indian screen before.
At the end of Drishyam 2¸ Meena and Mahesh had been handed over the remains of their son’s ashes along with a cryptic message that could not be legally actionable. Meera is still mentally disturbed (they had moved abroad since) and again swears revenge. Though the (now) seven-year-old case has been closed by the cops, she convinces her superiors to reopen the investigation. An intrepid officer from Crime Branch, Rajveer Singh Tomar (Jaideep Ahlawat) comes in, and they have sufficient “evidence” and witnesses to open the case from a different angle.
This time Tomar is smart enough to drag Vijay to court again, with another determined individual, Indrajit Shetty (Prakash Raj) out to get Vijay and his family. What happens now?
The thrill element is at its sharpest here among the three films as the story logically moves to a terrific conclusion. The writer-director does leave a slight opening in case popular demand commands a fourth installment (when he has decided to move on from the saga—remember the resurrection of Sherlock Holmes?), like keeping a door ajar. But as of now, the story is over, and Meera and Mahesh with Shetty and Tomar, all highly-educated, have been checkmated by a man who is not even a graduate.
And finally, the much-maligned Salgaonkar family and Vijay, its head, can be at peace, and Ishita can be married into a good family. The ends are all neatly connected and woven into a foolproof fabric with the twists cleverly brought in at the perfect psychological moments.
In the final analysis, this is a very human and emotional drama and its immensely compassionate depiction scores and was already expected to touch the skies from the trailer itself. Popular perception here makes the Salgaonkars a ‘real’ and ‘living’ family for whom we all root deeply, and this credible development sans any narrative loopholes makes the film a brilliantly awesome triumph.
Hundred percent (I would award more if it was possible!) perfection is the obvious result in its scripting (Pathak with Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh) and direction, with impeccable technical help. Amar Mohile does much better at the background score (BGM) than his usual average norm, but Ravi Basrur’s, Karma’s and Rochak Kohli’s functional songs are no match for Devi Sri Prasad’s outstanding work (and his haunting thematic BGM) in Drishyam 2.
Ajay Devgn with his baleful yet determined expressions and demeanor, dives into the now-iconic character with seasoned expertise, elevating his character despite minimal, restrained and calm dialogues. Shriya Saran is correctly scared, while Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav have limited scope. So do Tabu and Rajat Kapoor.
The acting cake and bakery are taken by Jaideep Ahlawat, an actor of no mean stature, who brings to life his character of almost cocksure, resolute cop who knows what he is up against and eventually emerges as a rueful loser. As Gaitonde, Kamlesh Sawant delivers his best performance in this trilogy and provides refreshing in-plot humor, while Prakash Raj is effective as Shetty.
Ajeet Singh as Raghu and Ramchandra Singh as Savio impress while the rest of the cast do fine jobs too.
A whopper initial opening will be followed by a cult reception for this film. With the human psyche connected empathically to the film’s characters, history will be in the making for this triumphant movie, all the more because it is (supposed to be, as of now!) the final part of a magnificent family story.
Rating: *****
Star Studios 18 & Panorama Pictures present Drishyam The Conclusion Produced by: Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak, Alok Jain & Ajit Andhare Directed by: Abhishek Pathak Written by: Jeethu Joseph, Abhishek Pathak, Aamil Keeyan Khan & Parveez Shaikh Music: Ravi Basrur, Karma & Rochak Kohli Starring: Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, Tabu, Rajat Kapur, Jaideep Ahlawat, Saurabh Shukla, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav, Kamlesh Sawant, Samvedna Suwalka, Prakash Raj, Ajeet Singh, Ramchandra Singh, Dodo Bhujwala & others
