Drishyam 3: Antony Perumbavoor confirms threequel of Mohanlal-Jeethu Joseph’s film, theatrical release planned

While director Jeethu Joseph has always maintained that he was open to the idea of doing another film in the Drishyam franchise to conclude Georgekutty’s story, the film’s producer Antony Perumbavoor has now confirmed that the third instalment of the Mohanlal-starrer has been greenlit.

The producer, who had bankrolled Drishyam and Drishyam 2 under the banner Aashirvad Cinemas, announced Drishyam 3 during an award function. Contrary to the previous film, which was a direct-to-OTT release on Amazon Prime Video, Drishyam 3 will have a theatrical release and the news was welcomed by Mohanlal fans. Drishyam, which had released in 2013, was a humongous hit and the first Malayalam movie to breach the Rs 50 crore mark in worldwide box office. This also led to several other big budget projects being greenlit in the industry.

While Drishyam 2 was initially planned as a theatrical release, the prevailing COVID-19 conditions that led to theatres remaining shut and the massive offer by the OTT platform prompted the makers to opt for a direct streaming release. This also worked wonders for the movie as it was lauded by audiences across the country and its remake rights across languages were sold for record prices. Jeethu, himself, had directed its Telugu remake that had Venkatesh in the lead. The Hindi version, which will have Ajay Devgn and Tabu reprise their roles, is set to go on floors soon.

Meanwhile, Mohanlal and Jeethu Joseph, who had previously worked on another OTT film 12th Man, will resume shooting of their big budget action-thriller titled Ram. The movie, which is planned to be released in two instalments, will be shot in London, Morocco and Tunisia over the next two months. Apart from Mohanlal, the movie also has Indrajith Sukumaran, Trisha Krishnan, Adil Hussain and G Chandunath in pivotal roles. Another star from Telugu, Tamil or Bollywood is also expected to be part of the movie, which completed its Kerala schedule earlier this month.