Jeethu Joseph opens up about 25-year-old chat that inspired Drishyam; reveals original climax had both families meeting at Varun’s grave: ‘Rewrote script after…’

Jeethu Joseph recently opened up about the origin story of Drishyam and how a casual conversation with a group of friends, 25 years ago, marked the birth of the movie.

By: Entertainment Desk

Kochi | September 17, 2025 07:15 PM IST

3 min read

Jeethu Joseph recently opened up about the origin story of Drishyam and how a casual conversation with a group of friends, 25 years ago, marked the birth of the movie.

Writer-director Jeethu Joseph reveals the origin story of Mohanlal's Drishyam. (Credit: IMDb)

Writer-director Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam (2013) is undoubtedly one of the most influential and impactful Indian films of the 21st century. A crime drama revolving around the lives of a rural family that is determined to go to any lengths to ensure that the murder they committed is never proven, Drishyam is all set to get a third instalment now. According to the makers, the latest movie will go on floors in October, with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal returning as the “classic criminal” Georgekutty.

In a recent interview, Jeethu opened up about the origin story of the movie and how a casual conversation with a group of friends, a quarter of a century ago, marked the birth of Drishyam. Mentioning that the film’s one-liner took seven years to complete, he revealed that it was initially planned as a courtroom drama.

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“It was in 2000. We were having a gathering with a few friends. A friend of one of my friends was there, and he was talking about issues between two families. There was a boy and a girl, a love affair, and the matter reached the police. However, one sentence he said attracted me. He said, ‘Both families are right and wrong. I don’t know whom to support.’ So, I started writing on that thought, with a boy and a girl and bringing the love affair in front of families. It was a courtroom drama. Then I realised it would be dry,” Jeethu Joseph shared during a conversation with Galatta Plus.

He added, “So, as years passed, I did other movies, and when the issues with mobile misuse and all came up, I introduced that idea to the story. Later, I added the murder part. I basically made the one line in seven years. At that time, there was no police station in the story… One of my associates came up with an interesting character of a C-class movie theatre operator.”

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“When I finished my script, the climax was like two families eventually meeting each other and standing on top of the grave (of Varun Prabhakar, the youngster whom Georgekutty’s daughter and wife ‘accidentally’ murdered). I was not happy with that climax. It felt like a coincidence that they were standing on top of where he was buried. Around the time, I did a documentary for Janamaithri Police Station. While I was playing shuttle one day, an idea came to me: why not bury the body in a police station? I got goosebumps and went back and rewrote the script by including the police station as a character,” he shared.

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