Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 3 may have gotten the perfect release date for 2026, but here’s why Mohanlal’s Drishyam 3 still enjoys an edge

“What happened on October 2?” The Salgaonkar family is grilled with questions like these throughout the first two films, only for them to repeat the same story over and over again. It makes poetic sense then that the final chapter of the Drishyam trilogy unfolds on October 2 next year. However, Devgn and director Abhishek Pathak’s Drishyam 3 may still not enjoy the edge over its source material, Mohanlal and Jeetu Joseph’s Drishyam 3 in Malayalam.

Drishyam’s legacy

The origin of the Drishyam franchise dates back to 2013, when Antony Perumbavoor’s Aashirvad Cinemas released Jeetu Joseph’s Malayalam crime thriller starring Mohanlal as George Kutty. Two years later, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak’s Panorama Studio acquired the Hindi remake rights and released the film with Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran, and Rajat Kapoor among others, which was directed by late Nishikant Kamat.

After the release of Joseph and Mohanlal’s Drishyam 2 in 2021, Pathak followed suit, acquired the rights to the sequel, and filled in for Kamat in the director’ chair after the latter’s passing. Devgn’s Drishyam 2 released in cinemas in 2022, with Akshaye Khanna and Saurabh Shukla joining the cast. But with Drishyam 3, it’s a different story.

Earlier this month, Panorama Studios and Jayantilal Gada’s Pen Studios acquired the global rights of Drishyam 3. It implies that they not only have the Hindi remake rights, but also the worldwide digital and theatrical rights of the Malayalam version. While this may give them the ownership over the future of the franchise, in a Drishyam-like plot twist, George Kutty has gained the upper hand yet again.

George Kutty over Vijay Salgaonkar

The deal with Aashirvad Cinemas cost Panorama Studios and Pen Studios a whopping Rs 350 crore, as per Sacnilk. As a result, even before wrapping up its shoot, Mohanlal’s Drishyam 3 is already profitable. Given Malayalam films are made on far less budgets than Hindi movies, whatever Drishyam 3 earns now at the box office will be all bonus.

There were rumours that another reason behind Pen Studios and Panorama Studios acquiring the global rights of Mohanlal’s Drishyam 3 is so that they could release both the Malayalam and Hindi versions simultaneously in cinemas next year. However, at the recent JioHotstar South Unbound event in Chennai, Jeetu Joseph confirmed that the Malayalam version is in the last stage of shoot and is eying a release at the start of next year’s second quarter.

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Reportedly, it was built in as a caveat in the deal by Aashirvad Cinemas that though Panaroma Studios and Pen Studios have the global rights to Drishyam 3, the original Malayalam version will release in cinemas at least two weeks before the Hindi one. Thus, while it looks like Vijay Salgaonkar’s Drishyam 3 has odds in its favour, the details suggest George Kutty’s Drishyam 3 has been the winner all along.