The third Hindi Drishyam had to solve two problems at once: reward an audience that has spent years trying to outguess Vijay Salgaonkar, and keep the biggest secret from leaking before the film even opened. Writer Aamil Keeyan Khan has now explained how the team handled both. That contract is why each instalment has to surprise viewers who walk in already looking for loopholes.
Why the Hindi version took its own road
Khan told Free Press Journal that the Hindi team started work on its story after Drishyam 2, before either the Hindi or Malayalam third chapter had taken shape. He said they had not read Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam draft before beginning their own work. His case is that the two films cannot be judged as one story delivered in two languages: tone, performance and the way audiences connect with the characters all shift.
That matters because the Hindi franchise has built an audience around Ajay Devgn’s version of the character. A straight translation would invite comparisons instead of allowing the film to work on its own terms.
Protecting the twist
The bigger risk was a leak. Khan says director Abhishek Pathak ran the production with the caution of the franchise’s protagonist. “Abhishek basically ran the production like Vijay Salgaonkar would,” he said. The climax was not shared with a large part of the crew.
- Departments were given only the details they needed to execute a scene.
- Crew members could work on a scene without learning why it mattered to the plot.
- Khan says friends, relatives and even some actors tried to get the ending out of him.
His refusal, he joked, called for the honesty of a film character: “Like Gaitonde, I remained honest and loyal to the producers.”
Ajay Devgn’s quick gearshift
Khan also described how quickly Devgn can move between projects and the character he plays. During Drishyam 2, he said, they were discussing another film when Devgn was called for a shot. Within seconds, the conversation partner disappeared and Vijay Salgaonkar appeared. Devgn performed the scene, returned and resumed almost exactly where they had left off. “The speed of his mind is frightening,” Khan said. “There are permanently about 17 tabs open in his brain.”
What the first weekend says
The box office supports the approach. According to industry tracker Sacnilk, Drishyam 3 earned ₹61 crore net in India on Day 3 from 17,323 shows. Its India net collection now stands at ₹176.50 crore, and worldwide gross has reached ₹272.80 crore. The film also entered the top ten highest-grossing Indian films of 2026 within two days.
For a franchise sold on its final reveal, that early momentum is evidence that secrecy and a separate storyline have not dulled its pull.
Source: Hindustan Times
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