Drishyam (2015 film)

Drishyam (transl. Visual) is a 2015 Indian Hindi-language thriller film directed by Nishikant Kamat. The film is a remake of the 2013 Malayalam-language film of the same name. The film was jointly produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Ajit Andhare and Abhishek Pathak, and stars Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Shriya Saran, and also features Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav.

For the Tamil remake of the same film, also released in 2015, see Papanasam (film).

Drishyam
Theatrical release poster
Directed byNishikant Kamat
Produced byKumar Mangat Pathak
Ajit Andhare
Abhishek Pathak
Written byUpendra Sidhaye
Story byJeethu Joseph
Based onDrishyam
by Jeethu Joseph
StarringAjay Devgn
Tabu
Shriya Saran
Ishita Dutta
Mrunal Jadhav
Rishab Chadha
Music bySongs:
Vishal Bhardwaj[1][2]
Score:
Sameer Phaterpekar
CinematographyAvinash Arun
Edited byAarif Sheikh
Production
company
Distributed byViacom 18 Motion Pictures
White Hill Studios (North America)
Release date
  • 31 July 2015 (2015-07-31)
Running time
163 minutes[3]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹620  million[4] Note: includes print and advertising figures
Box officeest. ₹1104 million[4]

The film was theatrically released in India on 31 July 2015. It grossed ₹938.5 million in India and a worldwide total of ₹1,110.5 million worldwide. The cost of production plus print and advertising costs totalled ₹620 million .[4]

Plot

The film starts with a new policeman in town joining the newly built Pondolem police station in Goa. While walking through the station with a constable, he notices a man, ostensibly named Vijay Salgaonkar, sitting at one far end. The newly joined policeman asks whether he is "Vijay Salgaonkar", to which the constable replies in positive. The film then goes into a flashback as "Vijay" closes his eyes.

Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) is an orphan who dropped out of school after his 4th grade. Now he is a content businessman running a cable TV service in Goa. He is married to Nandini (Shriya Saran), and they have two daughters, namely Anju, his adopted daughter (Ishita Dutta), a class twelve student, and Anu (Mrunal Jadhav), a class six student. His only interest is watching films. He has gained a lot of fame and support in his area for helping people out with the help of methods he learns from films.

During a nature camp which Anju attends, a hidden cell phone camera records Anju removing her clothes and showering in the bathroom. The culprit, Sameer "Sam" Deshmukh (Rishab Chadha), is the son of Inspector General of Goa Police, Meera Deshmukh (Tabu). Sam comes to blackmail Anju for sexual favors one day, turning up at her house the same night, when Nandini shows up too; she was informed by her daughter. Nandini pleads with Sam to leave their family alone, but Sam refuses to delete the video clip unless his sexual demand is fulfilled. Nandini begs him to leave Anju alone, and Sam says that he would do it on one condition: Nandini should have sex with him instead. In an attempt to break the offending cell phone, Anju takes a swing at Sam with a lead pipe, but she strikes him in the head instead, killing him immediately. They bury his body in a compost pit in the backyard, which is witnessed by Anu. In the morning, when he returns from work, Nandini tells Vijay about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the police. He removes the broken cell phone and disposes of Sam's car, which is seen by the corrupt Sub-Inspector Laxmikant Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant), who has a grudge against Vijay. The next day, Vijay takes his family out on a trip to Panaji, where they visit an Ashram, watch a film, and eat at a restaurant.

Meera, realizing that her son has gone missing, starts an investigation.

After a preliminary investigation, Meera calls Vijay and family for questioning. Having predicted that the police would come calling eventually, Vijay coaches his family on how to face the interrogations without raising suspicion. When questioned individually, the family sticks to their individual stories and the police are unable to find a crack in their alibis. Vijay produces bus tickets, movie tickets, lodging and restaurant bills as proof for the family's visit to Panjim. Meera questions the owners of the establishments they have been to and their statements prove Vijay's alibi. Meera realizes that on the day of the incident, Vijay had taken the tickets and the bill, made acquaintance with the owners and had gone for the trip with his family the next day, thus proving his alibi and making the owners unwittingly tell the lie.

Meera has the Salgaonkar family arrested, and Gaitonde uses brute force to beat the truth out of them though Vijay, Nandini and Anju resist. Meanwhile, Meera finds out about Sam and his video of Anju from Sam's friend, Alex. Eventually, Anu gives in and reveals that she has seen a body being buried in the compost pit. After digging the compost pit, the authorities find the carcass of a dog. Vijay reports to the media that Gaitonde physically abused both his daughters, causing an angry Gaitonde to attempt an attack on Vijay, but Vijay's in-laws retaliate, and a mob rises up to beat up Gaitonde. Following the incident, Gaitonde is suspended, Meera resigns from her post, and the entire investigating team of the Police Station is transferred out, with the case now requiring authorization from the court. When Nandini asks Vijay about what he did to the body, he refuses to tell her, saying that the secret will remain within his mind and it must go with him without a truce.

Meera and her husband Mahesh (Rajat Kapoor) meet Vijay at a seaside to ask forgiveness for the video clip and their son's rude and pervert behavior, and to get a confirmation whether their son is alive or not. They also reveal that they would be leaving for London to live with Meera's brother. Finally, Vijay cryptically confesses to killing Sam. He also asks for forgiveness, and explains to them that he would go to any lengths to protect his family.

The film returns to present days as Vijay opens his eyes. He signs the register in the newly constructed police station. While signing, the new inspector tells him that he can't be fooled and he will definitely find out, at which point Vijay smilingly confides that he is sure the local police force will protect its townspeople.

A flashback plays along as Vijay exits the police station in present day, revealing that Vijay buried the body under the new police station while it was under construction. As he looks both sides of the road, the film suddenly closes with a blackout.

Cast
Shriya Saran, Ajay Devgn & Tabu, played main lead roles during a promotional event.
  • Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar, an orphan and owner of Mirage Cable Network who dropped out of school after 4th grade but has a good amount of knowledge about things which he learns from watching films
  • Tabu as IGl Meera Deshmukh, a stern police officer who has the Salgaonkars arrested on suspicion of her son Sam's death
  • Shriya Saran as Nandini Salgaonkar, Vijay's wife
  • Ishita Dutta as Anju Salgaonkar, Vijay and Nandini's adopted and elder daughter
  • Mrunal Jadhav as Anu Salgaonkar, Vijay and Nandini's younger and biological daughter
  • Kamlesh Sawant as Sub-inspector Laxmikant Gaitonde
  • Rajat Kapoor as Mahesh Deshmukh, Meera's husband who remains benevolent throughout Meera's investigation against the Salgaonkars
  • Prathamesh Parab as José, Vijay's assistant at Mirage Cable Network
  • Rishab Chadha as Sameer 'Sam' Deshmukh, Mahesh & Meera's son
  • Vikas Kumar as Alex Peter, Sam's friend
  • Sharad Bhutadiya as Martin Uncle
  • Ramesh Pardeshi as Contractor Rane
  • Yogesh Soman as Assistant Inspector (AI) Vinayak Sawant
  • Prasanna Ketkar as Sr. PI Shrikant Prabhu

Production
Drishyam star cast with suresh sharma during promotions

Casting

In October 2014, it was announced that Saif Ali Khan would take the lead role and reprise the role played by Mohanlal in the 2013 Malayalam predecessor.[5] There were also reports that Akshay Kumar will take up the lead,[6] but in November 2014, it was announced that Ajay Devgn would star in the Hindi remake of the 2013 film Drishyam,[7] which will be produced by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures in association with Panorama Studios and directed by Nishikant Kamat. Plans then were to have Devgn reprise the role played by Mohanlal in the 2013 film.[8] Later it was announced that Tabu will be playing the role of Meera Deshmukh a cop and Shriya Saran will play the wife of Ajay Devgn's character.[9]

Filming

Principal photography for the film was slated to begin in February 2015. Ajit Andhare, the Chief operating officer of Viacom 18 Motion Pictures stated "Drishyam is an iconic film that leaves you spellbound and intrigued long after you have watched it. Its box office record in Malayalam & Telugu speaks for itself."[10] Actor Ajay Devgn had been in Canada to shoot snow scenes for his upcoming film Shivaay, but light snow conditions had him reschedule that film and return to India to instead begin Drishyam.[11] The First 20 Day Shooting schedule of the film began on 13 March 2015 in Goa and ended on 1 April 2015. The second schedule of the film began on 2nd week of April.[12] The first look of the film was unveiled on 29 May 2015.[13]

On the announcement of the Hindi remake, film producer Ekta Kapoor sent a legal notice to the Malayalam filmmakers. Ekta Kapoor acquired the movie rights of Japanese author Keigo Higashino's book, The Devotion of Suspect X, and her legal team claimed that Drishyam is a film adaptation of the novel, for which they purchased rights. However, the original Drishyam director and screenwriter Jeethu Joseph, denied that his film is an adaptation or copy of the Japanese novel and film.[14] Commentator Nandini Ramnath noted how the denial of even slight inspiration by the Japanese novel is parallel to the inside movie storyline as "Jeethu Joseph's achievement lies in lifting an intelligent concept and localising it so effectively that the links (to the Japanese novel) appear tenuous unless closely investigated. Drishyam is the perfect crime about a perfect crime, and its director's alibi is almost as airtight as the one Ishigami creates for Yasuko and Misato."[15]

Drishyam was declared tax free in Uttar Pradesh.[16]

Soundtrack

The music for Drishyam is composed by Vishal Bhardwaj with lyrics written by Gulzar. A song titled "Carbon Copy", which was sung by Ash King, was released on 7 July 2015. The music rights for Drishyam are acquired by Zee Music Company.

No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Carbon Copy"Ash King03:34
2."Dum Ghutta Hai"Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Rekha Bhardwaj04:30
3."Kab Kahan Se"KK03:58
4."Kya Pataa"Arijit Singh04:14
Total length:16:16

Release

Drishyam was released on 31 July 2015 on 2,365 screens in India.[17]

Reception

Critical reception

Meena Iyer of The Times of India gave the film four out of five stars, describing it as "A suspense drama with a nail-biting finish." Iyer criticized the casting choices for some of the Salgaonkar family, but praised Devgn and Tabu's performances, "Ajay, who is the prey here, shines in his role of the protective father ... Tabu [is] outstanding as his predator."[18] The Indian Express, however, gave the remake two and a half out of five stars and found fault with the chemistry between Devgn and Shriya Saran, who plays his character's wife. Indian Express described Devgan's performance as "stilted" and Tabu's performance as "off-and-on", commenting that she comes off as stiff at times.[19]

Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times rated the film three and half out of five stars, describing it as "Stunning, gripping, edge-of-the-seat, shocking, engrossing". Vats praised the film for being successful as a suspense thriller.[20]

Raja Sen of Rediff gave the film a rating of two and a half out of five stars, noting the pace of the film begins "far too snoozily".[21] Sen described Tabu's character as Inspector General Nair as a "badass superstar", but overall felt "the film is clumsily written, with dialogue that sounds wooden.[21] Contrarily, Bollywood Hungama gave the film four out of five stars and didn't notice the same pacing and script problems as Sen. "There is no single moment in the film suffers a lag ... As for the taut screenplay (Upendra Sidhye), it keeps on playing with your mind all the time. You know what happened but even then you are taken for a ride and you start believing in it."[22]

Martin D'Souza of Glamsham gave it four out of five stars and stated "Drishyam is a spot-on crime thriller that has some 'heart-in-your-mouth' moments. It's set up in a made-up village called Pondolim in North Goa. What's satisfying about the entire screenplay is that what Vijay is doing on screen is what you will do for your family. Nothing less; after all, family is all that we have!"[23]

Subhash K. Jha of gave it four and half out of five stars and stated "Nishikant Kamat's Drishyam is an outright winner . It is not just a remarkably resonant remake but also a unique stand-alone experience."[24]

Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary of Gulf News gave it four and half out of five stars and stated "There are no loose ends in the plot; every character, every situation is well planned and visualised to perfection. The background score is evocative though a song that served to highlight the trauma of the characters seemed eminently forgettable."[25]

The Free Press Journal (FPJ Bureau) Said, "The climax is just awesome and worth watching and waiting for. Performance-wise, Ajay is very good, as is Tabu. Shriya and the daughters have also acted brilliantly and do justice to their characters. The film's direction and screenplay is very good, while the music is okay. I would say, the movie is must watch."[26]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 80% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 8.2/10.[27]

Box office

By the end of its first week, Drishyam had grossed approximately ₹463 million (US$6.5 million).[28] The movie grossed ₹629 million (US$8.8 million) in 13 days at domestic box office.[29] By the end of its second week, the film had grossed about ₹64.17 crore (US$9.0 million).[28] By the end of its third weekend, the film had grossed about ₹687 million (US$9.6 million). By the end of its fifth week, the film had grossed about ₹757 million (US$11 million). [30][31] By the end of its sixth week, the film had grossed about ₹765 million (US$11 million).[32] It attained a total gross of ₹91.97 crore (US$13 million) (India)[33] in the Indian box office by the end of its run. Internationally, the film collected ₹155 million (US$2.2 million) in seven weeks[34] and reached a combined worldwide total gross of ₹1.1 billion (US$15 million).[35]

References
  1. "Drishyam: 10 National Award winners come together". The Times of India. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. Bollywood Hungama. "Vishal Bhardwaj – Gulzar come together for Drishyam remake". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  3. "DRISHYAM (12A) – British Board of Film Classification". British Board of Film Classification. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  4. "Drishyam – Movie – Box Office India". www.boxofficeindia.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  5. Goswami, Parismita (20 October 2014). "Saif Ali Khan Bags Lead Role in Hindi Remake of Mohanlal Starrer 'Drishyam': Report". International Business Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  6. "Ajay Devgn or Akshay Kumar - who will replace Mohanlal in Drishyam remake?". Bollywood Life. 23 September 2014. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  7. staff (25 November 2014). "Ajay Devgn to play the lead in Hindi remake of Drishyam". India Today. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  8. V.P, Nicy (25 November 2014). "Ajay Devgn to Reprise Mohanlal's Role in Hindi Remake of 'Drishyam'; Shooting to Begin by February". International Business Times. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  9. staff (27 February 2015). "Shriya in Drishyam Hindi remake". The Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  10. sttaff (2 February 2015). "Ajay Devgn's 'Drishyam' Remake Will Go on the Floors in February 2015". Koimoi. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  11. Iyer, Meena (2 February 2015). "Ajay pushes Shivaay, makes place for Drishyam remake instead". Times of India. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  12. Parkar, Shaheen (23 March 2015). "Ajay Devgn continues shooting for 'Drishyam' remake despite fever". Mid-Day. Retrieved 10 April 2015.
  13. "Ajay Devgn and Shriya Saran shine in the first look poster of Drishyam". news.biharprabha.com. 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  14. "Drishyam director responds to Ekta Kapoor's legal notice". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  15. Ramnath, Nandini. "'The Devotion of Suspect X' vs 'Drishyam': The perfect alibi meets the perfect double crime". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019.
  16. "Ajay Devgn's DRISHYAM announced tax free in Uttar Pradesh". Glamsham. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  17. "Box office: 'Drishyam' rakes in Rs 21 crore in its opening weekend".
  18. Meena Iyer. "Drishyam Movie Review".
  19. Drishyam review: This Ajay Devgn film could have been better if it had been tighter. The Indian Express (1 August 2015). Retrieved on 4 January 2016.
  20. Rohit Vats. "High Voltage Thriller".
  21. Review: Drishyam is a depressingly ordinary film – Rediff.com Movies. Rediff.com (31 July 2015). Retrieved on 4 January 2016.
  22. Taran Adarsh. "Drishyam Must Watch".
  23. Martin D'Souza. "Drishyam Review".
  24. Subhash K. Jha. "Drishyam Remarkably Resonant Remake". Archived from the original on 13 September 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  25. Suchitra Bajpai Chaudhary. "Drishyam Review and Rating".
  26. The Free Press Journal. "Drishyam an Edge of The Seat Suspense Thriller".
  27. "Drishyam (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  28. "'Drishyam' First Week Box Office Collection: Ajay-Tabu Starrer Earns Same Amount as Hindi Version of 'Baahubali'". International Business Times. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  29. "Box Office Collection: 'Drishyam' Steady".
  30. "'Drishyam' Box Office Collection". Indian Express. 18 August 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2015.
  31. KoiMoi – Drishyam Makes It To The 75 Crore Mark | 5th Weekend Collections. M.koimoi.com (1 September 2015). Retrieved on 4 January 2016.
  32. Drishyam : 6th Week Box Office Collections. Koimoi.com (11 September 2015). Retrieved on 4 January 2016.
  33. Special Features: Box Office: Worldwide Collections of Drishyam – Box Office, Bollywood Hungama. Bollywoodhungama.com. Retrieved on 4 January 2016.
  34. "'Drishyam' Overseas Box Office Collection". Box Office India. 28 September 2015. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
  35. "Drishyam". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 26 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
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