Drishyam: A vision which creates an impact

Remakes in Bollywood have been in vogue since the Black & White era. Some remakes have been apt, some better than the original and some a complete waste which makes you wonder why was the remake made in the first place.

“Drishyam” , a remake of the Mohanlal starrer Malayalam film by the same name does not fit in any of the above categories, to some extent it does justice to the original but not entirely. Nevertheless it does create an impact. Based on the original story by Jeethu Joseph and adapted by Upendra Sidhaye, it narrates the story of a Vijay Salgoankar (Ajay Devgan) an orphan and class 4th fail, who is happy and content with his family comprising of his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) and two daughters living in a small village in Goa. Fortunes turn when the son of IG Meera Deshmukh (Tabu) goes missing and Vijay and his family becomes the prime suspect. How the family deals with the trials and tribulations is what the movie is all about…

Jeethu Joseph’s story is a sure shot winner and makes for a tight thriller.

Upendra Sidhaye tries to adapt the original in a Bollywood mould which somewhere steals the soul of the original. The first half is wasted in establishing the characters and songs, the movie actually picks up pre interval when the mishap happens making the post interval extremely interesting and edge of the seat. The first half is dedicated to show the loving, happy family, Upendra’s writing lacks a bit in the emotional quotient and does not create any impact. But it is the second half when the screenplay redeems itself and makes you sit up and makes it worth a watch concluding it with a crackling climax. Rather the second half looks like a completely different movie with a much tighter screenplay and at the end creating an impact, but it could have been better with some more twist and if the run time would have been 15 minutes shorter.

The dialogues also written by Upendra are impactful in some sequences and falls flat in some. The dialogues could have been written better with some emphasis on the emotional quotient.

What really makes “Drishyam” worth a watch are its performances. Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar, the middle class simpleton who falls in an extraordinary situation, gives a crackling performance and does justice to the character and yet again shows his range as an actor. Tabu as IG Meera Deshmukh, a tough cop and at the same time a loving mother, gives us another award winning performance, proving yet again that is an actress par excellence. Right from her entry she lives Meera Deshmukh’s character to the T, the movie actually picks up after her character is introduced. Shriya Saran as Vijay’s wife Nandini, actually looks a bit miscast and her performance lacks the depth which makes the character fall flat, her performance is the weakest as compared to the rest of the cast. Ishita Dutta who plays Vijay’s elder daughter Anju, does a commendable job in her debut. Pitted against the stalwarts like Ajay & Tabu, Ishita successfully creates an impact which is commendable. Rajat Kapoor as Meera’s Husband has very little to do, but whatever he does, he does justice. Overall it is the performance by the cast which elevates the movie.

Goa has never been captured as beautifully as it has been done by Avinash Arun in this movie. He captures the virgin and serene locations of Goa beautifully, emphasizing more on the green and luscious villages. Editing by Arif Sheikh could have been a bit crisper, especially the first half and being a thriller it the cut needed to be sharper, in a nutshell Arif does a satisfactory job.

The combination of Vishal Bharadwaj and Gulzar is a cracker, and you expect melodies which stay with you, but unfortunately it fails miserably in this movie, and creates no impact. Rather when the movie gets over you do not even remember a single tune.

Nishikant Kamat, who has been quite successful in making commercial movies in realistic moulds somehow slips a bit with “Drishyam” , it is Jeethu Joseph’s original story and the performances which saves the day for Nishikant. Being a thriller it could have been a bit tighter with some more twists. But overall at the end of the day it does create an impact which is important, but definitely this is not Nishikant’s best work.

The concept, the story and the performances, strictly in that order is what makes “Drishyam”, a must watch. I will go with Three stars.

Movie Rating: (3 / 5)