Never has Indian cinema celebrated the razor sharp mind of a common man the way the Drishyam trilogy does. Originally written and directed by Jeethu Joseph and starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, the first film made cinematic history by not just being adapted into several Indian languages, but chosen by film industries across the world — China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Hollywood etc.
In its Hindi remake, actor and producer Ajay Devgn played the central role; the film turned out to be hugely successful and adored by North Indian audiences. While Drishyam was directed by the late Nishikant Kamath, the second and the third remakes are directed by Abhishek Pathak.
Taking a leaf from the film’s style of providing the proverbial twist that changes the narrative, Drishyam – The Conclusion, in its Hindi remake, has made a conscious effort to change the script completely. This provides a much-needed twist to the film’s predictability. In short, it enhances, and even supersedes, the Malayalam version in both content and earnings.
Ajay Devgn, who was in Dubai for the promotions of the film, spoke to Khaleej Times about the film, where his character of Vijay Salgaonkar outwits the system yet again, despite being on the wrong side of law.
How do audiences root for a man who is essentially a fugitive with a mastermind ? “It is a grey space. The law might not always be right and Drishyam: The Conclusion is about personal vendetta, not just about who is on which side of the law,” says Devgn. Rooting for his character, he adds, “Any family man would go to all lengths to protect his family. My character Vijay Salgaonkar does the very thing. And according to him, he is right.”
The oft-brooding Ajay Devgn, happy at the success of the film that has made huge numbers explained how he watches a lot of South Indian films. “We in Bollywood, watch a lot of South Indian cinema. Lal sir ( Mohanlal) has been a favourite and so have many others,” he adds.
Talking evasively about how Lal’s character and his are different or similar, he says, “He has done it his way and I have done it my way.”
The film’s worldwide reach and adulation is a matter of great pride to Devgn. “As a country, if Hindi cinema is remaking a film that is from the South, it means we are getting inspired by our own country’s work. It is not like picking up a Hollywood film and remaking it here. Take Shaitan for example (a film that starred Ajay Devgn and R Madhavan), which is an official adaptation of the 2023 Gujarati supernatural psychological horror film Vash. This is a huge compliment to our writers and directors both regional and those from the Hindi film industry.”
Drishyam 3 has been written by Abhishek Pathak, Aamil Keenan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. “The writers envisioned the story in a way different from the original, keeping the soul of the film intact. The central characters never change, but tenser situations are added and hence newer actors were added to the script . The film has powerful performances from seasoned actors such as Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj.
Given Hindi cinema’s recent lull, how does he see content evolve in the industry now? “ During Covid times, a lot of projects that we had signed earlier had stalled. When we started completing those projects, we slowly realised that the formula had changed. Films started failing. It is because people’s tastes had evolved during that time and we had a lot of catching up to do. Audiences had the time to consume all kinds of content across the world and hence the change in their preferences and sensibilities. We still have a lot of catching up to do. The audiences evolve each day. The transition now is amazing.”
In the golden era of characters being central to the film, and the slow demise of the swashbuckling hero, how does he see his roles today? “Today, a character’s role is stronger than the hero’s role. Sequels don’t work if people don’t fall in love with the character. Be it Singham, Golmaal or Drishyam — the writers and directors make the characters endearing and you take home the character. They have already established his personality, traits and behaviour. So when there is a sequel or part 3, audiences don’t want their favourite characters to change. They want them to act in the same way, but handle different situations.”
Devgn cites the example of Avengers where situations changed but characters remain the same. “John Wick is John Wick, with his stoicism and moral code. Audiences go to see him. They don’t want to change their perception of him. Similarly, the characters of a Gopal, Lucky or a Madhav in the Golmaal series, can’t change their spots. They cannot deviate from who they are because the audience expects them to be a certain watand cannot be disappointed.” Devgn cites the example of the character of the cop Gaitonde in Drishyam 3, played by Kamlesh Sawant. “People like to see the humour in his character, despite his frustration that his truthful analysis goes bust,” he adds.
Devgn has played a range of characters from being the college hero in his debut film Phool Aur Kaante in 1991, to four national awards, several Filmfare awards and has been part of revenue grossing entertainers such as Golmaal and Singham (remade from Tamil), where he plays a super cop.
In another universe, how will the fierce Singham from the Rohit Shetty series deal with Vijay Salgaonkar, his character in the Drishyam series ? “One is a super cop and the other is a super mastermind? I would love to make that film. One is complete brawn and the other is all brain and strategy. I want to slam both and I want both to win,” he laughs…
Source: Khaleej Times