The makers of the hit Drishyam franchise Abhishek Pathak and Kumar Mangat Pathak said the upcoming third installment in Malayalam and Hindi will have distinct narratives, offering audiences different storytelling within the same cinematic universe.

The crime thriller franchise, known for its taut narrative, sharp twists, and gripping performances, has over the years garnered a strong and loyal fan base across languages and demographics.

“Both the stories of Drishyam 3 in Malayalam and Hindi are going to flow differently. The Malayalam version shifts into an emotional family drama, while the Hindi version will be a drama-thriller. It will be fun to see both versions and notice the changes in it,” writer-director of the Hindi film Drishyam 3, Abhishek Pathak told PTI in an interview.

Drishyam originated as a 2013 Malayalam film starring Mohanlal and its sequel came out in 2022. The third part will hit theatres on May 21. All the three movies have been directed by Jeethu Joseph.

The success and acclaim of Drishyam led to its remake in several languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Chinese (Mandarin) and Sinhalese.

The Hindi version, directed by the late Nishikant Kamat and headlined by Ajay Devgn, also turned out to be a massive hit, with the first part arriving in 2015.

It was followed by the second part, helmed by Abhishek Pathak, in 2022. The filmmaker is also directing Drishyam 3, which will come out in cinema halls on October 2.

Abhishek Pathak along with his father Kumar Mangat Pathak is distributing Mohanlal's Drishyam 3 under their banner Panorama Studios.

According to Abhishek, the scripts for the two versions of Drishyam 3 were developed independently.

“I wrote my story keeping the Hindi audience in mind so that they get what they are expecting from Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay's character) in the film. Jeethu Joseph wrote his version. Later, we read each other’s drafts and we loved both,” the writer-director, who has penned the third part with writers Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh, said.

The third part of Drishyam was in the news a few months ago after the sudden exit of Akshaye Khanna, who played a pivotal role in the second part. The makers then roped in Jaideep Ahlawat for Drishyam 3.

Abhishek said Jaideep is playing a new character in the upcoming film, distinct from the one Khanna portrayed as IG Tarun Ahlawat in the previous installment.

“Jaideep is a very talented. We have seen his work and we loved him, which is why we thought of him. He has a new character in the film and the audience will be surprised, it will be fun to watch him.

"The clash between Ajay and Jaideep’s characters is going to be interesting; it will be one of the key highlights of the film. We are sure the audience will applaud it.”

Kumar Mangat Pathak said despite the earlier release of the Malayalam film, the audience’s connection to the Hindi movie will not be impacted.

The veteran producer said they have chalked out plans to produce six Malayalam-language films this year and have joined hands with many industry figures, including actor-producer Nivin Pauly.

“We are making films across genres and scale. We are working with new as well as top-grade writers like Shahi Kabir, who is directing two films with us. We are also working with the director of Eko, Dinjith Ayyathan,” Kumar Mangat Pathak said.

Besides Drishyam, the father-son duo is also developing Raid 3 and Shaitaan 2, alongside several original projects.

Director Rajkumar Gupta’s Raid is inspired by real-life income tax raids conducted by IRS officer Amay Patnaik, played by Devgn. The two movies in this franchise that came in 2018 and 2025 were box-office hits.

Shaitaan (2024) is a supernatural thriller starring Devgn as the protagonist and R Madhavan as the antagonist.

“We don't try to milk and make films because we have popular franchises like Pyaar Ka Panchama, Drishyam, Raid and Shaitan. It's very easy to do so, like making a film in the same genre and giving it the brand name, thinking people will come to the theater to watch it.

"If people don't like it, the brand goes down completely. Both Raid 3 and Shaitan 2 are in the development stage, we are working on the story,” Abhishek said.