Drishyam: The Conclusion isn't a remake this time. Ajay Devgn confirmed as much at the trailer launch in Goa on Wednesday, and he wants Mohanlal to be the one who checks his work.

The first two Hindi Drishyam films tracked their Malayalam originals fairly closely, right down to the beats. This one doesn't. "Hamari film ek dum alag hai," Devgn said at the event, going on to clarify it isn't a case of a few tweaked scenes, the story itself is new. Drishyam 2 and Drishyam: The Conclusion, despite sharing a timeline, are not telling the same tale anymore.

That's a break from the format, and Devgn knows it. So he's decided the ultimate test is Mohanlal himself. "I want Lal sir and I want them to see the film because if unka bhi ek approval mil jaaye ki they loved this, so it will make me very happy. I am dying to show the film," he said, according to Free Press Journal.

It's a curious thing to want, honestly. The Hindi Drishyam has spent two films riding on Mohanlal's original, and now that it's finally standing on its own legs, its lead actor's biggest wish is still validation from the man who started it. Says something about how much that Malayalam original still looms over this franchise, even as Devgn's version tries to walk away from it.

The timing lines up with how the Malayalam side of the story played out. Mohanlal's own Drishyam 3 released earlier this year to a mixed critical reception, per 123telugu, though it still did solid numbers, Rs 110.49 crore net domestically and a worldwide gross of Rs 239.83 crore. Devgn's Drishyam 2, for context, had crossed Rs 239.67 crore net in India on its own theatrical run, having skipped the pandemic-era OTT route that Mohanlal's sequel took.

So there's history here, two versions of the same family running on parallel tracks, sometimes converging, sometimes not. With The Conclusion now confirmed to break away entirely, the makers have also settled something else. This is the last film in the Hindi franchise. No more Drishyam after this, at least not with Vijay Salgaonkar and his family trying to bury one more body.

Whether that new story lands is a separate question, and one the trailer has already got people talking about online, with plenty asking exactly how different this version really is under the hood. Devgn's own answer is that it's different enough to stand alone.

Drishyam: The Conclusion opens October 2. Whether Mohanlal actually watches it, and whether he says anything about it publicly, is the follow-up nobody's asked yet.