Drishyam The Conclusion set to close Vijay Salgaonkar’s story

MUMBAI: The clues are out, the clock is ticking and Vijay Salgaonkar is back with one last trick up his sleeve. At FICCI FRAMES 2026, the makers of Drishyam: The Conclusion opened up about bringing one of Hindi cinema’s most closely followed characters to his final chapter, while discussing the difficulty of extending a franchise without losing the very DNA that made audiences fall in love with it.

The session, ‘Drishyam: The Conclusion’, featured actor Ajay Devgn, film producer Kumar Mangat Pathak, filmmaker Abhishek Pathak and Alok Jain, Head – Hindi & English Entertainment Business (Streaming, TV and Studios), JioStar, in conversation with Madhureeta Mukherji, Editor, Bombay Times. With the film set to release on 2 October, the discussion moved beyond the usual sequel chatter to examine why the Drishyam story has endured for nearly a decade and why its makers believe this is the point at which Vijay Salgaonkar’s journey should end.

For Devgn, the franchise’s journey has gone much further than anyone initially expected. When Drishyam began, there was little indication that Vijay Salgaonkar, 2 October and even Pav Bhaji would eventually become part of popular culture, with the film’s details turning into memes and references over the past 10–12 years. The actor said the scale of that connection was never something the team could have predicted when the first film was made.

The date itself has become part of the franchise mythology, making the 2 October release of the latest film particularly fitting. The producer described the date as an integral part of Drishyam’s identity and said the team had put considerable effort into the third film before leaving the result to audiences.

At the heart of that appeal is a remarkably simple emotion: a father trying to protect his family. The makers said this emotional foundation is what has allowed Drishyam to connect beyond language and geography, while the story has travelled from its Malayalam origins into the Hindi market and subsequently attracted interest for adaptations in other parts of the world.

The Hindi franchise, however, has increasingly developed its own identity rather than simply following the Malayalam original. The makers said Drishyam 2 already diverted from the original in several aspects, including the addition of Akshaye Khanna’s character, while the third film takes a completely new route with a script developed over nearly two years.

That two-year writing process also explains why the makers decided to call this the conclusion. Rather than beginning with a straightforward brief to produce another Drishyam sequel, the creative process involved finding an idea that could genuinely take the story forward, with the team reportedly working through four different scripts before arriving at the version they believed worked.

Devgn acknowledged that extending Drishyam is particularly difficult because the story cannot simply reset itself. Vijay Salgaonkar’s story has to continue from where the previous film ended, leaving the writers and director with limited room to manufacture an entirely unrelated murder mystery or throw the family into a disconnected situation. The challenge, therefore, is to move the existing story forward while keeping the audience invested in the same character.

That balancing act sits at the centre of the franchise philosophy. The makers argued that a successful sequel has to offer the comfort of familiarity while still giving audiences something they have not seen before. In a market where viewers have access to an enormous range of Indian and international content, simply changing the label on an old formula is unlikely to be enough.

Devgn put the idea more bluntly: sequels do not necessarily work because the first film worked; characters work when audiences become emotionally invested in them. He cited franchises such as Golmaal, Singham and Drishyam to argue that the continuing presence of recognisable characters gives filmmakers a foundation, but the writing and direction still determine whether audiences will want to follow them again.

For Vijay Salgaonkar, the character’s core has therefore remained intact even as time has passed. Devgn said the third film begins from where the second ended, meaning the character cannot suddenly become someone else, although nearly a decade of experience has naturally brought a greater sense of calm and confidence to his portrayal. Vijay, he suggested, is also more prepared for what may come his way this time.

The makers also see Drishyam as part of a larger opportunity for Indian franchises. The discussion drew a comparison with Western franchise storytelling, where characters such as Iron Man and Captain America move from one film to another while a larger world develops around them. The ambition, they said, is for Indian cinema to create more such continuing characters and stories that can travel across markets.

Drishyam has already demonstrated that portability. What began with a Malayalam film found an independent life in Hindi, while the underlying emotion of a father protecting his family has helped the story cross language and geographical boundaries. The makers said discussions are also under way in Western markets around further adaptations, underlining the international potential of a story built around a universal family emotion.

But taking a franchise forward also means taking its audience forward. The makers acknowledged that viewers who watched the first Drishyam nearly a decade ago have since been exposed to vastly more cinema and streaming content, including films and series from across India and around the world. That has raised the bar for what audiences expect from a returning franchise.

The pandemic accelerated that change. Devgn said audiences spent the lockdown years consuming international cinema as well as Indian films in multiple languages, exposing them to different storytelling styles and raising their expectations. When theatres reopened, the industry had to catch up with viewers who, in his words, had moved ahead of it.

That gap between creators and audiences has also made the traditional idea of judging a film more unforgiving. Devgn observed that viewers often appear to have formed an opinion about a film even before its release, while the first show can quickly confirm or overturn what filmmakers believed they had created. The collective response of audiences, the panel noted, can arrive remarkably quickly after years of work behind the scenes.

For the producers, the answer is not to assume they know exactly what audiences want. Instead, the approach is to remain connected to consumers, stay curious, accept that not every experiment will work and continue making calculated creative bets. The panel stressed that India’s diversity makes it particularly dangerous to treat the immediate social circle of filmmakers as a complete representation of the audience.

That makes Drishyam 3 something of a high-wire act. The audience wants the familiar Vijay Salgaonkar, the same emotional core and the same world, but it also wants a story capable of surprising it. The makers said their aim has been to preserve what audiences recognise while taking the franchise beyond where Drishyam 2 left it.

There is also a deliberate sense of finality around the third film. Devgn said there was no major disagreement over ending the story, largely because finding a worthwhile continuation of Drishyam is itself such a demanding writing exercise. The conclusion, therefore, is not being presented simply as another instalment but as the point where the creative team believes the story has reached a natural stop.

And perhaps that is the biggest gamble of Drishyam: The Conclusion. After nearly a decade of October 2 references, Pav Bhaji jokes, memes, mysteries and one exceptionally resourceful family man, the makers are betting that audiences would rather see Vijay Salgaonkar leave on a high than watch the story stretch simply because the franchise can continue.

The final answer, fittingly, will not come from the makers. It will come when the lights go down on 2 October and audiences finally get to decide whether Vijay Salgaonkar has one last trick left — or whether Drishyam has finally closed the case.