Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam remains one of the most talked-about Hindi crime thrillers, and fresh attention on drishyam 3 is sending viewers back to the film that started it all. The 2 hour 43 minutes suspense drama, directed by Nishikant Kamat, was built around an intriguing storyline and an ending that kept its grip until the final scene.

Devgn led a cast in a film produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Abhishek Pathak and Ajit Andhare, with music by Vishal Bhardwaj. Released on 2,200 screens and made on an estimated budget of around Rs 62 crore, Drishyam turned into a huge hit and later spread far beyond India, with remakes in Sri Lanka and China under the title Sheep Without a Shepherd.

The film was itself an official remake of the 2013 Malayalam Drishyam, written and directed by Jeethu Joseph and starring Mohanlal in the lead role. That version, and the Hindi adaptation that followed, shared the same winning setup: the murderer in front of the cops the entire time, and a police investigation slowed by a crime scene twisted so deeply that the truth was hard to see.

That is why the franchise still draws attention today. Drishyam 2 arrived on November 18, 2022, with Akshaye Khanna and Tabu in key roles, and the sequel reinforced how durable the concept is. Between the original film’s scale, its Rs 110 crore worldwide haul, and the reach of its remakes, the series has become a rare thriller property that still commands curiosity years after release.

The remaining question is no longer whether Drishyam worked. It did, in box office terms and in cultural reach. The question now is how far the franchise can go from here, because drishyam 3 already carries the weight of a story that proved it could outsmart both the audience and the police.