Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 3 writer says wrote 100 versions of film: ‘Friends tried to bribe me for ending’

Ajay Devgn returned as the iconic Vijay Salgaonkar in his latest release Drishyam 3: The Conclusion. After two successful parts, the third installment of the Drishyam franchise is also following the same footsteps. The film has emerged a winner, both critically and commercially, collecting over Rs 270 crore worldwide within three days. As the storytelling and climax of Drishyam 3 is being widely discussed, the film’s screenwriter Aamil Keeyan Khan, opened up about working on the final chapter.

During a conversation with The Free Press Journal, he shared, “I have folders inside folders, drafts with dates, numbers, dates after numbers, and files called things like “FINAL”, “FINAL 2”, “FINAL FINAL” and presumably “FINAL PLEASE GOD”. I have genuinely lost count, but well over a hundred drafts in different forms. Easily.”

The makers of Drishyam 3 also took strict steps to keep the film’s major twists under wraps. Aamil Khan revealed that the ending of the film was not shared with most of the cast and crew. “Abhishek basically ran the production like Vijay Salgaonkar would. The climax wasn’t given to a large part of the crew. People got information on a need-to-know basis,” he said.

He continued, “Sometimes a department only knew what it needed to execute a scene, not necessarily why it was executing it. A lot of actors and crew from the film, and my own friends and relatives, tried to bribe me for the ending. But like Gaitonde, I remained honest and loyal to the producers.”

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The writer further explained how the screenplay was expected to maintain the identity of the franchise, while giving the audience something they had never experienced before. “It was an enormous mountain to climb. You have a beloved franchise, a family that the audiences have lived with for years, and the legacy of two hugely loved films sitting on your shoulders. And most importantly, how do you surprise an audience for the third time?”

Khan added, “In the first film, Vijay Salgaonkar is almost a blank slate. Now the audience knows him. They know how his mind works; they know he has tricks up his sleeve, and frankly, they’re suspicious of everything the poor man does. Then there was the challenge of writing an original screenplay while retaining the DNA of ‘Drishyam’. It still had to have humour, family, emotion, drama and thrills without any one ingredient swallowing the others. It was a very, very thin tightrope. Thankfully, none of us looked down.”

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About the film

Drishyam 3: The Conclusion has been produced by Star Studio18 and Panorama Studios, and helmed by Abhishek Pathak, who also directed the previous instalment. He has also co-written the film with Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. Besides Ajay Devgn, the Hindi thriller will features Tabu, reprising her role as IG Meera Deshmukh and Shriya Saran as Nandini. Actors Prakash Raj and Jaideep Ahlawat have also joined the star cast.

The Hindi Drishyam franchise started in 2015 with the remake of Mohanlal’s Malayalam hit of the same name. The first Drishyam (starring Ajay Devgn) in Hindi language was also a huge success and it minted around Rs 110 crore worldwide. Drishyam 2, which hit the theatres in 2022, also emerged as a massive blockbuster, collecting around Rs 345 crore worldwide. Now, the latest Drishyam 3 has crossed Rs 272.8 crore worldwide in its first three days.