The Drishyam series redefined storytelling in the crime thriller genre. The original version, Drishyam in Malayalam, released in 2013 and rewrote box office records in Mollywood. It's sequel, Drishyam 2, had a direct OTT release due to the COVID19 pandemic, denying what would have certainly been another undisputed box office phenomenon.
Meanwhile, the Drishyam has had its remakes in all the other major industries with all of them becoming successes as well. While Kamal Haasan played the lead role in Tamil, Ajay Devgn did it in Hindi and Venkatesh in Telugu. The Tamil version had certain nuances in the climax which made a sequel impossible but Bollywood and Tollywood remade Drishyam 2 to endure theatrical success.
After a gap, it is time for Drishyam 3 but the film's release timeline seems to be having a thriller pattern to itself. Director Jeethu Joseph, who wrote and directed the Malayalam version, began the shoot of the third installment in Thodupuzha last month. There were talks about a simultaneous shooting schedule for the Hindi and Malayalam versions but that didn't materialise.
Ever since Drishyam 3 has been announced across industries, the producers of its Hindi version have tried to ensure that they could release their version first. Initially, they were keen to start the shoot in the early part of 2025 but since the Malayalam version was expected to start only in latter part of the year, Joseph disagreed. He also allegedly threatened the Hindi team with legal implications.
The Malayalam version of Drishyam 3 is targeting a release date in the first half of 2026. Meanwhile, the Hindi version had already announced 2nd October 2026 as their release date but this was before the Malayalam version had started its shoot. Now, with the Malayalam and Telugu versions likely to hit the screens in the first half of 2026, the Bollywood makers are feeling the heat.
In an unethical move, they decided to release the official teaser of Drishyam 3 Hindi on 2nd October 2025 but that didn't materialise. Initially, it was rumoured to be a technical delay but now it seems like the Hindi makers are in legal trouble. They have allegedly been banned from releasing any content of Drishyam 3 without prior permission from Joseph and Malayalam version's producers Aashirvad Cinemas. This is why the announcement teaser has been delayed.
The Hindi producers, Panorama Studios, have constantly tried to get their version out first as they don't want to fall back in the race but they do need to consider the ethics and legality as well. With the latest ban, it is safe to say that Bollywood will have to follow the protocol and wait for the Malayalam version to release their contents before releasing their own.
