Jeethu Joseph debunks Drishyam 3’s ‘simultaneous shooting’ of Ajay Devgn, Mohanlal’s versions; says ‘no decision about the project yet’

“I definitely am contemplating the possibility of Drishyam 3 and am putting in efforts to materialise it. However, I have not yet reached a point where I can confidently embark on writing its script. As a result, no concrete decisions have been made regarding the start of its filming or the approach we will take. Consequently, no decision has been taken regarding the possibility of shooting the film simultaneously with another project (the Hindi version of Drishyam 3),” Jeethu asserted.

On Tuesday, entertainment news website Pinkvilla reported that it has “exclusively learnt that Drishyam 3 has gotten into the development stage and it is proving to be a collaboration between the creators in Hindi and Malayalam.”

“Abhishek Pathak and his team of writers have cracked a basic core plot for Drishyam 3, which Jeethu Joseph and his team loved. They have taken the idea from the team of Hindi Drishyam and are now working towards developing it into a screenplay for Drishyam 3,” Pinkvilla quoted one of its sources close to the film’s development as saying.

“The idea is to have Drishyam 3 shot together and release them on the same date all across India. While Kerala will see the release in Malayalam with Mohanlal as George Kutty, the rest of India will get to see the journey of Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar. Once the screenplay is locked, the Telugu Drishyam producers also might join the plan of simultaneous release all across on the same date,” Pinkvilla further reported quoting the source.

The report emerged despite Jeethu Joseph, ever since the release of the second instalment in the franchise in 2021, constantly maintaining that no definitive decision has been made regarding Drishyam 3 yet.

One of the most impactful and successful franchises in the history of Indian cinema, the first Drishyam movie came out in 2013. With Jeethu Joseph’s direction and screenplay, the film starred Mohanlal, Meena, and Asha Sarath, and achieved blockbuster success. Its popularity led to remakes in four other Indian languages: Drishya (2014) in Kannada, Drushyam (2014) in Telugu, Papanasam (2015) in Tamil, and Drishyam (2015) in Hindi.

Following the immense reception of all these films in their respective industries, Jeethu Joseph embarked on creating a sequel to the Malayalam film. Drishyam 2, which had a direct-to-OTT release, received an overwhelming response from the audience. Inspired by its success, the Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi film industries also remade the Malayalam sequel, titling them Drushyam 2 (2021), Drishya 2 (2021), and Drishyam 2 (2022), respectively. However, there have been no announcements yet regarding a Tamil remake.

While Jeethu Joseph himself directed Papanasam and Drushyam 2, along with the original Malayalam Drishyam films, the Hindi versions, featuring Ajay Devgn, Tabu, and Shriya Saran in leading roles, were directed by the late filmmaker Nishikant Kamat (Drishyam) and Abhishek Pathak (Drishyam 2).

Recently, Indian production banner Panorama Studios and Anthology Studios from South Korea announced a partnership for the remake of the Drishyam franchise in Korea.