There's no rule that says each film of a trilogy has to follow a certain pattern. There would be, of course, certain expectations based on the highs that increased exponentially from the first film. We have a history of trilogies that worked and those that didn’t. Even legends like Francis Ford Coppola and Christopher Nolan have, in some eyes, fallen short in this regard. But is Jeethu Joseph really making a trilogy with "Drishyam"? Apparently not.
"Drishyam 3" cannot be accused of not delivering exactly what the makers promised because it's exactly what Jeethu Joseph said it is: an emotional drama with a sprinkling of twists here and there. An attempt, however, to closely emulate the structure of “Drishyam 2” is made in a few places, but this time around, the predominant focus is more on Georgekutty than the mechanics of the case and the theatrics associated with it — meaning, there's less running and more internalising. "Drishyam 3" makes it apparent that it is more concerned with Georgekutty than the last two films.
Of course, once again, it's rooted in family emotions, and this time, the emotional stakes are higher because the man has grown more influential and affluent. He is now a movie producer who just made a blockbuster called... Drishyam. The meta moment. Naturally, this is a situation that wouldn't be taken lightly by his — and his family's — enemies who are suffering for reasons of their own making but blame Georgekutty for them. (And if they were an audience member like us watching his 'happy family' moments as an Instagram reel accompanied by greeting card music, they would be even more annoyed.)
Being influential has many advantages. You can call anyone whom you have helped in the past to pull you out of a dire situation. But how many of those friends are reliable and trustworthy? There's the general sense that with more power comes more anxiety. When a figure from the past shows up, it's time for Georgekutty to grow increasingly paranoid. This is a cakewalk role for Mohanlal, who manages to be consistent with what he did in the first two films. The little jolts, the blank stare into the distance, the absent-mindedness...
The film spends a lot of time close to Georgekutty. Despite being sort of the Malayalam cinema equivalent of the lead character from the series "Prison Break", someone who thinks one step ahead, "Drishyam 3" once again presents a protagonist whose actions are driven by the urge to protect his family at all costs, not to show off that he has more brains than the police or any other unforeseen adversary.
Because this time, it really does feel like he is dealing with heavier dilemmas than he did in the last outing, even though Jeethu dials down the number of twists — there are a few, all reserved for the climax. But "Drishyam 3" leans more into the character-centric moments. It's a quest to find out how far Georgekutty can go, rather than trying to impress the audience with the coolness of the twists. Compared to the high-velocity thrill ride nature of the second film's screenplay, "Drishyam 3" opts to explore the possibility that Georgekutty may go for a radical shift in his nature. It's like asking whether Batman, who is averse to guns, would pick up one when things get too hot under the collar.
So far in the "Drishyam" franchise, Georgekutty has always been someone who relied more on brains than brawn. The entire third act hinges on a particularly unnerving choice, which, while not plunging to the extremes of some of Mohanlal's iconic emotion-driven, family-centric dramas from the 1980s and 1990s, prevents this film from becoming a complete retread of the first two films.
But if you were to ask me which of the three films thrilled me more overall, I would pick the sequel. I didn't experience the same exhilaration that the ending of "Drishyam 2" gave me. But then, like I said earlier, the intention of the film is obviously different. Without giving anything away, when you have a character exhausted from living with a storm inside him for nearly two decades, it's only natural that the film's ending reflects that weariness too, instead of leaving us with a massy "Wow!" feeling.
And, I'm not sure if that sudden turn of events was convincing either, though it's interesting from a narrative point of view. The lead-up to that development didn't feel organic enough. A mid-credits visual — or, let's say, 'drishyam' — teases a fourth film. Do we really have to go the “John Wick” route with this? I fear the saturation point has already been met.
Film: Drishyam 3
Director: Jeethu Joseph
Cast: Mohanlal, Meena, Esther Anil, Ansiba Hassan, Siddique, Asha Sarath, Veena Nandakumar Murali Gopy
Rating: 3/5
