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Drishyam: The Conclusion has become one of the biggest successes of the year and Hindi cinema has been back on its feet. With Dhurandhar 2 and Border 2 already setting the tone, the Ajay Devgn-starrer has delivered its own milestone, with Ramayana and King still to come. Koimoi sat down for an elaborate conversation about the film with one of its writers, Aamil Keeyan Khan, who discussed at length what actually worked for the final chapter of this franchise!
With enough source material, what were the arguments in the writers’ room, how did the franchise take a different turn from the Malayalam original, how did Vijay Salgaonkar’s character start speaking in silences, and most importantly, does the franchise really conclude?
Koimoi covered it all since Drishyam 3 is the talk of the town! The film has already hit 560 crore worldwide and is now moving towards the 600 crore mark, which will eventually arrive this weekend for sure! Aamil Keeyan Khan and the writing team deserve all the credit for bringing a conclusion that felt like a breath of fresh air, since it took a very swift yet steep turn from the Malayalam original this time!
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Drishyam 3 – The Turn No One Saw Coming!
Talking about the structure of the third part, Aamil Keeyan Khan admitted, “We had the events of Drishyam 2. That was a positive, but also a restriction. You can’t create anything outside that world or contradict what’s already on screen. So we asked where the loopholes Part 2 had left open were, and went from “what if this happens, what if that happens. Even Drishyam 2 began with a simple question: what if someone saw Vijay burying Sam in the police station that night? Here it was the same. How does he get caught, and how does he get out? The beginning and the end matter enormously in a film like this.”
Taking us through the journey of the film on paper, Aamil told, “The first dialogue I wrote was the monologue near the end, in Vijay’s voice, the one about the storyteller holding your hand and showing you a scene. The story was very different then. The monologue got rejected, came back, got rejected again, kept coming and going. Thank God it finally stayed, because I really liked it!”
The Dhak Dhak Scene That Almost Was Not Written!
When asked about the one scene from Drishyam 3 that had the most of the disagreements, Aamil narrated the most interesting story! He initially confessed it was almost every scene, “The screenplay was written by the three of us, me, Abhishek, and Parvez bhai, and we let the best idea win.” However, he recalled how the Dhak Dhak scene was the one he was not convinced at all! Yes! The scene that got the maximum applause in the theater! Aamil narrated, “The one scene, jiske liye Abhishek mere ko abhi tak sunaata hai is the Dhak Dhak scene!” He recalls, “The Dhak Dhak idea, when he came up with it, he told me that it should go on with this Dhak Dhak thought! By that time I’d written 6-7 versions of that scene.So I got irritated, and I was like, no, no, it’s not working. I think 2-3 hours later, cut to me saying this is not working, and I will not write it. And then 3 hours later I’m on the laptop with him and I’m writing that scene. But initially, I was dismissive of it.” Aamil agrees that he was glad that he gave in!
Gaitonde & His Humor – We Knew He Would Get The Claps!
Discussing how Gaitonde became the man of the laughter for Drishyam: The Conclusion, Aamil points out how dark humor in an investigative thriller was a tricky subject to be handled. He says, “Humor is simply how I talk and who I am, but not every film gives you the chance. This one did, through the screenplay and the characters. Abhishek has a great sense of humor, and I’ve done stand-up. Parvez bhai is very funny too. Most people in the room were funny.”
Making sure that the film treats its humor as a breather, he explained, “We also knew this is an investigative thriller, and not everyone follows every point. If it’s only investigation after investigation, it gets boring, because people come to have a good time, not to solve a case. With darker material, if you find black humor in it, you have a winner. We knew Gaitonde’s lines would get claps, because every time we narrated them, we could see it coming. That encouraged us to give him a little more space.”
Vijay Never Claims To Be A Good Man!
Finally giving his two cents about the good man or the bad man theory, Aamil sets the line straight: “Vijay never claims to be a good man. He’s a family man, and the audience asks itself: if it were my family, my daughter, would I do all this? It’s like having a friend who starts doing questionable things. You know it’s wrong, but the friendship is there, and you don’t let go.” He further explains why Vijay Salgaonkar works despite being a criminal: “Pushpa is a criminal’s story, and everybody clapped. I keep giving the reference of the Mahabharat, but Abhishek and I are also big fans of Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones. Walter White is not a good man, but you stay with him. The most boring writing has pure white and pure black. The interesting characters are the ones you can’t predict.” He concludes, “It’s a point-of-view thing. Told from Meera Deshmukh’s side, Vijay would be the villain. It depends on the point of view – Agar meri family ke saath hota to kya main ye sab karta? Agar meri family ke saath hota, to kya main ye sab karta? Humne uske point of view se yeh kahaani bataayi hai, and the audience has related to that emotion! It depends on the point of view, kis cheez ko aap kis nazariye se dekh rahe ho.
Will There Be A Drishyam 4?
Asked if Aamil will write another sequel, he quirkily admits, “Iska sequel to ab nahi likhna bhai! Iska sequel ab ho gaya bhai. Sam ki laash aur Drishyam ki kahaani, dono ko ab gaad ke dafan kar ke chhod dena chahiye! Let them rest in peace!” However, he clarifies that it is just his personal opinion! “I can’t speak for the whole team, only personally, but we’ve always been very fond of our trilogies. Look at Breaking Bad: they always knew they had a fixed number of episodes to wrap it up. Trilogies are perfect when they close at the right point and go no further. Commercially it’s tempting, but then you’re in a grey zone.”
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