While both films stem from the same story by Jeethu Joseph, the Malayalam and Hindi versions of ‘Drishyam 3’ are taking sharply different creative paths.
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One of Indian cinema’s most beloved crime thriller franchises is returning with not one but two versions of its third chapter. While Mohanlal’s Malayalam ‘Drishyam 3’ and Ajay Devgn’s Hindi remake share the same name and the same roots, the two films are shaping up to be distinctly different experiences in tone, timing, cast, and the ambitions riding on them.
The Malayalam film will release six months before Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 3, which arrives in October 2026. Mohanlal’s version is scheduled for a theatrical release on May 21, 2026, coinciding with his 66th birthday.
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Ajay Devgn’s version, on the other hand, is slated for October 2, 2026 (Gandhi Jayanti), a date that carries enormous significance within the franchise’s plot, given that “What happened on October 2?” is a question that haunts the Salgaonkar family across both earlier films.
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The makers of the Malayalam original chose to release it earlier to avoid a direct box office clash with the Hindi version, given both films were targeting a pan-India audience.
Director Jeethu Joseph has clarified there will be no completely divergent storyline between the two versions. He confirmed that the Hindi version will also be based on his story and that once his script was complete, it would be shared with the Hindi team, who would then adapt it to suit their setting and make suitable cultural changes. However, the tonal difference between the two is where the versions start to pull apart.
According to director Abhishek Pathak, the Malayalam version focuses more on family drama. He said the Hindi version will lean more towards a family thriller.
The Malayalam version follows George Kutty’s story set four and a half years after the second film. This shifts from a mental competition between characters to intense emotional conflict within the family, exploring how a decade of hidden information has affected his mental health.
Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay Salgaonkar, with Tabu reprising her role as IG Meera Deshmukh.
The Hindi version has seen a notable behind-the-scenes change. Akshaye Khanna, who joined the franchise in part two, reportedly walked out of ‘Drishyam 3’, and Jaideep Ahlawat is reported to have been cast in his place.
As per IMDb, Ahlawat’s character is described as a completely new addition and not connected to Khanna’s earlier role. Prakash Raj has also joined the Hindi cast in an undisclosed role.
The Malayalam version, by contrast, sees Mohanlal, Meena, Ansiba Hassan, and Esther Anil all reprising their roles.
The financial scale separating the two versions is striking. Panorama Studios and Pen Studios acquired the global rights of Mohanlal’s Drishyam 3. The deal reportedly costs a whopping ₹350 crore. As a result, even before wrapping up its shoot, the Malayalam version was already considered profitable.
In April 2026, Pen Studios published a statement announcing they had invested ₹100 crore in Aashirvad Cinemas through Panorama Studios for the Malayalam ‘Drishyam 3’.
The digital rights picture also got complicated. Amazon Prime Video filed petition in Delhi High Court after claiming to be sole holder of the film’s digital rights. This resulted in the court granting interim relief restraining the makers from negotiating OTT deals with third parties.
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