When Drishyam 2 was announced in the middle of all the uncertainties of the pandemic, there was a sense of skepticism because it felt like an attempt to bring people back to the theater, as everyone was hesitant to get the theater experience. Additionally, at multiple points, writer-director Jeethu Joseph had mentioned that he had no plans to make a sequel at that time. But when it eventually happened, it did the unthinkable of doing justice to the first part in terms of retaining the suspense. So when a third was announced, there was an equal amount of excitement and doubt about its potential, as the possibilities are limited with all kinds of fan theories existing. In Drishyam 3, Jeethu Joseph pushes the story towards the emotional evolution of the main character, and yet he manages to create that quintessential wow moment, which comes out of a shock, rather than a twist.
In the second part, we have seen that Georgekutty was trying to make a film based on his real life with certain tweaks. So in the third part, that movie is finally getting made without the cooperation of the writer Vinayachandran. Georgekutty is trying to move on from all this, and his primary focus is on Anju’s marriage. While trying for new alliances, he realizes that some people are still behind him. With no evident action from the police, how Georgekutty tries to find the people who are after him is what we see in this third part.
Drishyam 1 was an unexpected thriller. Drishyam 2 managed to recreate the beats of the first, and that was something the audience rarely expected. So Jeethu Joseph knows that his pattern of building twists is already exposed. When we watch the movie and observe the moves of the opposing side, naturally, we will think that Georgekutty would have anticipated all these moves. But Jeethu Joseph had said no to that expected pattern, and he decides to go through the psyche of a father who is more concerned about the practical life of his daughters, with the judicial system waiting for something to latch on to him. You are taken aback by the emotional shock moment that happens at the end, and it is not the typical whistle moment we have seen in the first and second parts of the franchise.
Even though the brand that has made him famous is called Drishyam, I have always felt that Jeethu Joseph is not a visual filmmaker. His strength is the screenplay part of it. He knows how to build tension and how to distract people into believing what would happen. However, while the first two movies dropped some major twists in the tale that were done by Georgekutty, this time he keeps Georgekutty on the back foot as he is at the receiving end of it. The screenplay takes into consideration the emotional evolution of all the key characters in the franchise. The officers who were part of the investigation, Georgekutty’s family, the ones who supported Georgekutty in this mission to protect his family, are all going through a lot of things, and we are seeing a very different version of them. And this change in each character is helping the movie break its pattern.
Like almost all the thrilling Jeethu Joseph movies, the area that feels a bit sloppy is the dialogue. There are several options to subtly communicate the details by slipping them into the conversations. However, much like his other movies, Jeethu Joseph follows the usual style of expository dialogue, and in many places, that felt a bit odd. Similar to the other two films, there is a little bit of humor in the first half, and this time, the conflict between the parents and kids is a bit more updated. Jeethu Joseph retains the franchise music composer Anil Johnson, and the score helps the movie to have the feel factor.
The criticism I spoke about, Jeethu Joseph’s dialogue writing, can be used to show the greatness of Mohanlal’s acting. There are only a handful of actors in this movie who have managed to render those rigid, dramatic, explanatory dialogues convincingly, and Mohanlal is indeed the first one who does it most effortlessly. There is a softness to the way he renders his lines, and that makes his performance look so natural even without tweaking any words. The vulnerability level of Georgekutty is on the higher side, and Mohanlal conveys that tension perfectly. The tone of Rani has been set through the other films, and Meena sustains that in this one as well. Ansiba Hassan plays a much calmer version of Anju in this movie. Esther as Anu is kind of getting a little more prominence in the family dynamics, and the way she performed in certain scenes, there is a possibility of more filmmakers looking at her as a leading lady.
Murali Gopy reprises his role from the second part. Siddique’s version of Prabhakar is a bit more evolved this time, and that adds to the emotional dynamics of the movie. Asha Sarath has very little to do in this sequel. There is another reentry that looked a bit tacky in terms of makeup, but the performance was very effective. Irshad performed the part of the police officer convincingly, while Veena Nandakumar struggled with dialogue delivery. Ganesh Kumar, Santhy Mayadevi, Dinesh Prabhakar, Ajith Koothattukulam, and Sumesh Chandran are all there in minimal characters.
Drishyam 3 is not really trying to celebrate Georgekutty as this unbreakable man. At one point, one of the twists in the movie leads to a scenario where he feels guilty of ignoring someone. And Jeethu Joseph even draws a parallel between Georgekutty and Varun. The idea of Georgekutty getting intimidated by thinking about himself is what adds a sense of freshness to the movie. If you are looking for one more iteration of Georgekutti fooling the police, the chances of you feeling disappointed are high. But if you are interested in knowing the psyche of a man who has a criminal mind and a family to protect, there is enough juice in this content.
