More than a decade after Drishyam changed Malayalam cinema and redefined the thriller genre, director Jeethu Joseph has made a surprising confession about the film's writing.
Speaking in an interview released by Aashirvad Cinemas ahead of the release of Drishyam 3, Jeethu Joseph admitted that he now believes he made a “mistake” while writing the first film starring Mohanlal.
Released in 2013, Drishyam became one of Malayalam cinema's biggest blockbusters and earned praise for its emotional storytelling and unpredictable climax. However, according to the filmmaker, the audience reaction was very different from what he had originally imagined while developing the story.
Jeethu Joseph revealed that the basic idea for Drishyam came from a real conflict between two families long before he entered the film industry.
“I got the idea from a disagreement between two families. It involved an issue between a boy and a girl, which eventually turned into a police case. At that time, someone told me that both families were right in some ways and wrong in others. The question was: whose side would you take?” he said.
The director explained that the moral complexity of that situation stayed in his mind for years and slowly evolved into the foundation of Drishyam.
“He personally knew both families. This was back in 2000, before I entered the film industry. I wondered that if such a situation were shown in a theatre, whom would the audience support? Their minds would keep swinging between both sides, wouldn't they? That thought eventually evolved into Drishyam,” Jeethu said.
The filmmaker admitted that his biggest mistake was assuming audiences would remain emotionally divided between Georgekutty's family and Geetha Prabhakar, the mother searching for her missing son.
“After watching the movie, I realized I had made a mistake because that balancing didn't happen. Everyone stood firmly with Georgekutty and his family,” he said.
Jeethu also defended Geetha Prabhakar's character and her emotional journey in the film.
“If you think about it, can we really blame Geetha Prabhakar? Her son has gone missing, and she is desperately trying to uncover the truth. From her perspective, Georgekutty is manipulating everything. How could she tolerate that?” he explained.
The director added that Geetha never knew the complete truth about her son's actions. “Her son never confessed his wrongdoing to her, so she still isn't ready to believe what actually happened. As a mother, she does not know the truth. That was the original spark behind Drishyam.”
Meanwhile, the franchise is now preparing for its next chapter, with Drishyam 3 scheduled to release on May 21.
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