Wanted to end 'Drishyam' franchise on a high: Director Abhishek Pathak

Director Abhishek Pathak says there is no plan to extend the "Drishyam" Hindi franchise further with a fourth instalment as he wants to move on to another story rather than repeat the story and the character for commercial reasons. 

Pathak, who directed the second and third parts of the fan-favourite crime-thriller film with Ajay Devgn in the lead, said he decided conclude the story during the script writing process.

"I want to end this film here because I think we have written really well. We've reached the point of the film where people will get a good high from it. So, I think making a fourth part, juicing out the same characters and track, is not correct for the franchise. A trilogy is good," the director told PTI in an interview.

"Somewhere I feel it might just be forcing it for the business perspective; I would rather make another film and make money than just do another part for this film and creatively restrict myself with this whole world again," he said.

The franchise, inspired by the original in Malayalam cinema, began with the late filmmaker Nishikant Kamat-directed "Drishyam" in 2015, followed by another part in 2022, and "Drishyam 3", which is set to release on October 2.

The story centres on Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn), a cable operator who goes to extraordinary lengths to protect his family after his daughter becomes involved in a crime.

The third chapter, also starring Tabu, Rajat Kapoor and Jaideep Ahlawat, will explore the cat-and-mouse game between Vijay and the police as the case continues to unfold.

Pathak said he is familiar with the fandom around "Drishyam" and how audiences may want to see more of Vijay Salgaonkar and his family, but they should accept the third film as a "farewell".

"If they like the film, the third part, which I'm hoping they will, and they might want to come and say that fourth part should be there. I think they should also say farewell to the film and goodbye to the franchise and be happy with it."

Pathak, who served as a producer on the first movie, said it's an emotional experience to end a franchise after nearly 12 years.

"When we got this (film), I thought it's a brilliant subject, so why not do it? I never thought at that point that this would go into part two," he said.

While the audience is familiar with the characters and has developed its own theories around it, Pathak said the challenge with the third instalment was to reinvent the narrative while retaining the essence of the franchise.

"We've already told this story twice so the story for the third part has to be more entertaining, engaging, and a little unpredictable. So, it's not a regular film which we keep watching and there's a franchise which keeps coming, it has the story which has to reinvent itself but yet be familiar," he added.

he screenplay, Pathak said, underwent several revisions over more than two years, and the team wrote "more than a couple of thousand pages" before arriving at the final 120-page script.

"It's not an easy film to write. It takes a lot of rewriting," he said.

Going forward, Pathak said he and his team have developed a couple of ideas across genres including a comedy, horror and an action thriller.

"Once I get done with this release, I'll sit and start working on it from November," he said, adding that the casting would depend on the script. PTI