Drishyam 3 Review: Mohanlal Elevates This Average Family-drama Thriller Into A Decent Watch
Rating: 3/5 Suyog Zore
As I exited the cinema hall after watching Drishyam 3, it became clear that Mohanlal's performance can turn an average film into a captivating one. His remarkable performance and screen presence transformed Drishyam 3, an above-average family drama-thriller, into a decent one-time watch film.
Continuing the plot from where the second film Drishyam 2 (2021) ended, Drishyam 3 commences with a scene showing a man's arrest, which elicits an emotional response from his wife, son and bystanders. As expected, this scene is revealed to be part of the film Drishyam, produced by Georgekuttty (Mohanlal). Despite the film's box office success, grossing over 100 crores, Georgekutty, Rani (Meena) and their daughter Anju (Ansiba Hassan) continue to cope with the aftermath of the events that happened on 2 August. Anju is still unmarried and George is still hesitant to send his young daughter Anu (Esther Anil) abroad for studies. Meanwhile, two young reporters, a man and a woman, who are investigating what transpired that evening to see if there are any witnesses or pieces of information that could help them. Soon Prabhakar (Siddique), IG Thomas Bastin (Murali Gopy), Ex- Constable Sahadevan (Kalabhavan Shajohn) also come into the picture to make things more complicated and intense.
Drishyam 3 uses same storytelling formula that we have gradually grown used to after seeing Drishyam one and two. This well-known formula mainly depends on a slow-moving, deceptively simple first half that puts domestic drama ahead of immediate suspense and slowly immerses us in Georgekutty's household's crippling story. The story takes its time in switching the gears before powerful interval punch. After that, the second half always changes into a high-stakes legal and cat and mouse game between George and Police. This culminates in a characteristic, mind-bending final act. But even though there are some twists on this road in this race, they don't provide the same pleasure because we can easily predict which direction the film will head before it even makes a move. It feels like we have been driving around the same dangerous, road for a long time, hence there is little left to surprise us if we are looking for a unique idea or a multi-layered narrative that also shows the growing impact of this constantly driving on the same path.
Georgekutty and Rani's attempts to set up their older daughter Anju's marriage are the primary focus of the first half. In the meantime, a few unidentified neighbours try to thwart the marriage arrangements. Particularly for those seeking mind-bending surprises, this first half seems very stale. However, I found this first half to be enjoyable since it makes the marriage a crucial part of the plot development rather than just concentrating on Georgekuttty's attempts to outwit the police. This part also examines how Georgekutty has suffered as a result of being trapped in this never-ending cycle of constantly being terrified of the police. Additionally, we witness him making mistakes and disregarding those who genuinely assisted him in getting away.
While the film smartly tracks the lingering psychological toll of his past, it stumbles when exploring Georgekutty’s newfound financial status. Early in the movie, we learn that his very first film as a producer is a massive hit, making over Rs. 100 Crores. However, this huge success has absolutely no effect on his life. This whole storyline disappears after just fifteen or twenty minutes. Even though he is now a crorepati, he still lives in the same simple house and does his own chores instead of hiring helpers. The writer-director, Jeethu Joseph, introduced a brilliant subplot here but completely squandered its potential. This 'crorepati' storyline was a narrative golden egg, yet Joseph cast it aside as if it was just a normal egg.
On top of that, many important characters from Drishyam 2 are totally missing in this third movie. For example, Vinayachandran the author of the fictional novel titled Drishyam in the sequel is absent in this third installment. The inclusion of his character could have helped to make this film even more captivating and made things even more complicated for Georgekutty. Additionally, we don't see any villagers who enjoy spreading rumours about Georgekuttty. We don't see the elderly tiny hotel owner who was the only one who continued to trust in Georgekutty in Drishyam 2.
On the acting front, Mohanlal once again delivers outstanding performance. In fact Drishyam franchise, reaffirms Mohanlal's capacity to transform an above-average family drama-thriller into a captivating film, thanks to his remarkable performance and screen presence. Even Ansiba Hassan impresses with her performance, particularly her relationship with Mohanlal. Esther Anil has little to do, but she completes the tasks assigned to her. Surprisingly, Siddique received far more screentime than I expected, and he also manages to portray a different shade of his character than we have seen in the previous two films. Meena, however, delivered the most irritating performance. Her character has been constructed in such a way that she appears caricaturish since the first film, Drishyam, and this trend continues in the third film. Meena's performance exacerbates the situation. During certain occasions, it appears that instead of speaking with George and delivering conversation, she is merely reading off a teleprompter.
Many people, including me, felt that despite crafting a compelling script for Drishyam 2, Jeethu Joseph's direction did not do the script justice. In fact, his directing made some of the interaction scenes feel like we were watching a daily soap. Thankfully, that doesn't happen here. Although he does not create novel shots or make us feel like we are a member of the family in every moment, he does try to demonstrate his directorial ability in select sequences, particularly when we witness the antagonist interact with other characters.
The excessive usage of background score was another thing that annoyed me. Jeethu Joseph tried to make some of the interaction sequences seem funnier by using the background score, however the excessive usage of the music transforms the laughter into cringe.
Overall, Drishyam 3 doesn't live up to the high expectations set up by the previous two films, but it is still decent one time watch family drama- thriller and most of its credit goes to Mohanlal.
Cast: Mohanlal, Ansiba Hassan, Meena, Siddique
Writer: Jeethu Joseph
Director: Jeethu Joseph
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