Drishyam The Conclusion review: Ajay Devgn's Vijay Salgaonkar has a last trick that is as dramatic as ever, but hardly spellbinding
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“Do October ko kya hua tha?” is as potent a question as “Why did Katappa kill Baahubali?” Inarguably, no other mystery thriller has kept audiences hooked quite like Drishyam has for 11 years now. Such is the franchise’s hold over viewers that the makers didn't need city tours or a round of interviews to drum up excitement for the latest movie... They just threw in some free pav bhaji with movie tickets (I kid you not, it’s actually happening)!
Adding to this, Drishyam The Conclusion review: Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar in the movie. But, like every good thing, this too must come to an end. Drishyam The Conclusion is here. Is it as potent as the first two installments? Let's find out.
Meanwhile, Right off the bat, Abhishek Pathak , who returns as writer and director, makes it clear that he isn’t simply following the Malayalam original starring Mohanlal. Meera Deshmukh ( Tabu ), still grieving the loss of her son Sam, is suicidal over the fact that Vijay and his family got away with his murder. Unable to come to terms with it, her husband (Rajat Kapoor) approaches Crime Branch chief Rajveer Singh Tomar ( Jaideep Ahlawat ), urging him to reopen the case. And before you know it, Vijay is in deep trouble yet again. Only, this time, the stakes feel higher, the atmosphere more tense. For once, it genuinely seems like Vijay might have finally run out of road. What unfolds from here forms the rest of the plot.
Notably, Not sticking to the original movie’s narrative is a smart choice on the makers’ part. The Malayalam version tended to stretch things out, particularly towards its climax, whereas this one chooses to cut to the chase almost immediately. There is little time spent setting things up. The emphasis is on Vijay being pushed into a corner. It gives the movie a sense of urgency that keeps things moving.
As per the latest buzz, But this narrative choice comes with a trade off. In its eagerness to get to the central conflict, the movie almost completely sidelines Vijay the family man. Shriya Saran and the two daughters, played by Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav, have virtually no dialogues or meaningful presence in the first half. And that is a departure from what made the original Drishyam so effective. Vijay wasn't merely a man outsmarting the police; he was also a protective husband and father, whose ordinary, endearing family life made his extraordinary actions all the more compelling. The tension came not just from wondering whether he would get caught, but from knowing what he was trying to protect.
In further updates, In shifting the focus so decisively towards the thriller bit, the movie loses some of the emotional grounding that gave the franchise its appeal.
On top of that, Drishyam: The Conclusion, in its two and a half hour runtime, knows exactly how to play to the gallery though. There is enough humour in the first half, much of it courtesy of my favourite character in the franchise, Inspector Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant), who cheekily references the memes around October 2, pav bhaji and Swamiji’s satsang. Dialogues by Aamil Keetan Khan are well done.
A pretty big shortcoming this time is the very thing we have come to expect from the franchise: the theatrics. Will Vijay get away with it, and more importantly, HOW?
Source: Hindustan Times