Hindi And Malayalam Versions Of Drishyam 3 To Have Different Stories: Makers

he creators of the popular ‘Drishyam’ series, Abhishek Pathak and Kumar Mangat Pathak, said that the upcoming third part in Malayalam and Hindi will have separate stories, giving audiences different experiences within the same universe. The crime thriller series is known for its tight story, sharp twists, and strong performances, and has built a loyal fan base across languages and age groups. ‘Both the stories of Drishyam 3 in Malayalam and Hindi will go in different directions. The Malayalam version is more of an emotional family drama, while the Hindi version will be a drama-thriller. It will be interesting to see both versions and notice the differences,’ said Abhishek Pathak, the writer-director of the Hindi film, in an interview with PTI.

‘Drishyam’ started as a 2013 Malayalam film starring Mohanlal, and its sequel came out in 2022. The third part will be released in theaters on May 21. All three movies have been directed by Jeethu Joseph. The success of ‘Drishyam’ led to remakes in several languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Chinese (Mandarin), and Sinhalese. The Hindi version, directed by the late Nishikant Kamat and starring Ajay Devgn, was also a big hit, with the first part released in 2015. The second part, directed by Abhishek Pathak, came out in 2022. He is also directing ‘Drishyam 3’, which will be released in theaters on October 2. Abhishek Pathak and his father Kumar Mangat Pathak are distributing Mohanlal’s ‘Drishyam 3’ under their banner Panorama Studios. According to Abhishek, the scripts for the two versions of ‘Drishyam 3’ were developed separately. ‘I wrote my story with the Hindi audience in mind, so they get what they expect from Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay’s character) in the film. Jeethu Joseph wrote his version. Later, we read each other’s drafts and liked both,’ said Abhishek, who wrote the third part with writers Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. The third part of ‘Drishyam’ made news a few months ago after Akshaye Khanna, who played an important role in the second part, suddenly left. The makers then brought in Jaideep Ahlawat for ‘Drishyam 3’. Abhishek said Jaideep is playing a new character in the upcoming film, different from the one Khanna played as IG Tarun Ahlawat in the previous movie. ‘Jaideep is very talented. We have seen his work and liked him, which is why we chose him. He has a new character in the film and the audience will be surprised. It will be fun to watch him. The clash between Ajay and Jaideep’s characters will be interesting and will be one of the main highlights of the film. We are sure the audience will love it.’ Kumar Mangat Pathak said that even though the Malayalam film will release earlier, the audience’s connection to the Hindi movie will not be affected. The experienced producer said they plan to make six Malayalam-language films this year and are working with many industry people, including actor-producer Nivin Pauly. ‘We are making films in different genres and sizes. We are working with new and top writers like Shahi Kabir, who is directing two films with us. We are also working with the director of ‘Eko’, Dinjith Ayyathan,’ said Kumar Mangat Pathak. Besides ‘Drishyam’, the father-son team is also working on ‘Raid 3’ and ‘Shaitaan 2’, along with several original projects. Director Rajkumar Gupta’s ‘Raid’ is inspired by real-life income tax raids by IRS officer Amay Patnaik, played by Devgn. The two movies in this series, released in 2018 and 2025, were box-office hits. ‘Shaitaan’ (2024) is a supernatural thriller starring Devgn as the hero and R Madhavan as the villain. ‘We don’t make films just because we have popular franchises like ‘Pyaar Ka Panchama’, ‘Drishyam’, ‘Raid’, and ‘Shaitaan’. It’s easy to do that, like making a film in the same genre and using the brand name, thinking people will come to the theater. If people don’t like it, the brand loses its value. Both ‘Raid 3’ and ‘Shaitaan 2′ are still being developed, we are working on the story,’ Abhishek said.