Top Bollywood star Ajay Devgn tells Variety he is confident “Drishyam 3: The Conclusion” clears the bar set by its predecessors, calling the psychological thriller’s twists unpredictable even for genre-savvy audiences accustomed to guessing outcomes.
Speaking ahead of the film’s Oct. 2 release, Devgn says the Hindi-language franchise ends definitively, unlike its open-ended Malayalam-language counterpart.
Devgn, who plays the protagonist Vijay Salgaonkar, watched the completed film on Tuesday and emerged reassured, despite what he describes as the pressure of following two successful predecessors, particularly the second installment, which he calls a difficult film to follow. He watched it alongside people whose judgment he trusts, and came away without the fear that audiences might feel it could have been better. He credits writer/director Abhishek Pathak and the writing team, saying the film is shot well and grips audiences throughout.
“You will not be able to guess,” Devgn says. “So, the twists and turns are a lot, and they are unexpected.”
The “Drishyam” franchise centers on a family man who covers up an accidental killing to protect his wife and daughters, then finds himself locked in a battle of wits with the police officer investigating the case.
The “Drishyam” story has traveled widely since Jeethu Joseph’s original Malayalam film starring Mohanlal opened in 2013. It was remade in Kannada as “Drishya” and in Telugu as “Drushyam,” both in 2014, and in Tamil as “Papanasam” in 2015, with Kamal Haasan in the lead and Joseph again directing. The Hindi version, starring Devgn and Tabu, also arrived in 2015, followed by a Sinhala remake and the Chinese adaptation “Sheep Without a Shepherd” in 2019. Joseph’s Malayalam sequel arrived in 2021, with Pathak’s Hindi “Drishyam 2” following in 2022. The Malayalam “Drishyam 3” opened earlier this year and has grossed INR239 crore ($25 million). Panorama Studios, which holds the Hindi and international remake rights, is now developing Korean, Spanish and English versions of the franchise, while limiting its own Indian-language output to Hindi.
On playing the character across all three films, Devgn says Salgaonkar has “become more calmer, I would say. He’s more prepared,” he says, noting the story picks up directly where “Drishyam 2” left off rather than showing a further gap in the character’s development, so there is limited room to trace additional emotional evolution beyond what the film itself depicts.
Devgn spoke to Variety on the sidelines of the FICCI-Frames Indian media industry conference in Mumbai where he was in conversation with Alok Jain, head – Hindi and English entertainment business (streaming, TV and studios), JioStar.
Despite the Malayalam “Drishyam 3” leaving its ending open, Devgn says the Hindi version takes a different approach entirely. “This is a completely different script altogether,” he says. “There is no comparison. There is nothing. And in our film, we’re not leaving any loophole or anything. We are finishing it. This is the conclusion.”
Devgn says his next release, the comedy “Golmaal 5,” is complete and will arrive in January. He has also wrapped an as-yet-untitled film carrying the working title “Ranger,” a Luv Ranjan production, and is preparing to start work on “Chauhan.”
Asked about further installments of the “Raid” franchise, Devgn says he would continue only with the right material. “Hopefully, yes, if we get a great script, because you don’t plan it,” he says, adding that a strong script is what would determine whether the franchise moves forward. The “Rudra” franchise remains on pause, a decision he says was intentional.
Devgn also addressed the Hindi-language film industry’s turnaround after a pandemic-era slump he attributes to audiences outpacing the industry’s output as international viewing habits reshaped expectations. He says the industry has since worked to catch up with a more evolved audience, with some films succeeding as a result. He adds that theatrical viewing endures in India in part because it remains one of the few affordable, communal entertainment options families can enjoy together, contrasting it with the shorter, costlier outings offered by restaurants. Once audiences have a good experience at the theater, he says, they tend to return.
Devgn says he is also developing a few scripts with an eye toward returning to directing, tentatively within the next two years.
On the broader evolution of Indian audiences amid a global shift toward AI-generated content, Devgn says viewers have become highly discerning, often able to judge from a trailer alone whether a film is worth watching, and says that instinct is right the vast majority of the time. He says a weak film struggles regardless of how strong its marketing is, since audiences can sense when they are being misled.
Asked about AI’s role in storytelling, Devgn, who owns generative AI company Prismix, says, “I think it is here to stay. I myself have an AI company,” he says, adding that the venture is performing well. He says full audience connection may take time, since viewers know AI-generated content isn’t real, but reiterates his belief that the format will endure.