Drishyam 3: The Conclusion Writer Penned Over 100 Drafts, Kept Climax Secret

Ajay Devgn is back as Vijay Salgaonkar in Drishyam 3: The Conclusion, and the Hindi thriller is pulling big numbers along with plenty of chatter. The film has reportedly collected Rs 272.8 crore worldwide in its first three days, with Rs 177 crore of that from the domestic market. Abhishek Pathak, who directed the previous chapter, is at the helm once again.

The first two Hindi films were remakes of the Malayalam originals starring Mohanlal, but this instalment is an original story. Pathak wrote it with Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. Khan says he went through well over a hundred drafts and finally lost count. The climax was kept from a large part of the crew, and departments were told only what they needed to shoot a scene. He added that cast, crew and even his own friends and relatives tried to bribe him for the ending, but he stayed loyal to the producers.

The story reopens the Sam Deshmukh murder case. Tabu returns as IG Meera Deshmukh, Jaideep Ahlawat joins as a police officer who refuses to let the case go, and Prakash Raj plays a sharp lawyer who arrives in the second half. Shriya Saran is back as Nandini, Vijay's wife.

Shriya admitted she could not sleep the night before release and kept replaying every scene she had shot. She also praised the sound team, saying the film was shot in sync sound and did not need dubbing at all. She called it a family drama and mystery that works on emotion rather than spectacle.

Fans, meanwhile, are having fun with Kamlesh Sawant, who plays Sub Inspector Gaitonde, the cop determined to put Vijay behind bars. Social media users dug up a scene from the 2004 film Khakee in which Devgn's villain shoots down Sawant's character, joking that it explains the long grudge. One review rated the film 3 out of 5, praising Ahlawat's intensity and the twist-filled second half while noting that the climax may divide audiences.