The Malayalam superstar, whose Georgekutty inspired Devgn's Vijay Salgaonkar, called the Hindi film's new ending a fitting finish to the franchise.
Mohanlal has watched Drishyam: The Conclusion, and he liked what he saw.
In a video message shared online, the Malayalam superstar, whose Georgekutty started this whole franchise back in the original Drishyam films, congratulated Ajay Devgn's team for closing out the story. "I watched Drishyam: The Conclusion, and I am truly impressed with the way they have brought a much-loved journey to a befitting end," Mohanlal said. "Congratulations to Abhishek Pathak, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Ajay Devgn and the entire cast and crew on a job so well done."
That's a big deal for a franchise that's always lived in the shadow of comparison. The Hindi Drishyam series began in 2015 as a remake of Jeethu Joseph's Malayalam original, and for two films it stuck fairly close to that source material. The Conclusion doesn't.
A deliberate break from the original
Speaking at FICCI Frames, Devgn laid out why the Hindi third film went its own way instead of adapting the Malayalam threequel, which released earlier in 2026. "The original one they did not have Akshay Khanna's character as such, but 3 is a completely new script," he said. "They are two very different films. The way Abhishek and the writers have worked so hard on the script for the past maybe two years that it really, really gives you a high."
He added that watching how the film finally came together is what convinced the team to call it The Conclusion rather than a straight third instalment. Whether that gamble pays off creatively has already become a talking point online, with some viewers saying outright they preferred the Hindi ending over the Malayalam one.
The cast carrying it through
Devgn returns once more as Vijay Salgaonkar, the family man whose instincts keep him a step ahead of the law. Tabu is back as Meera Deshmukh and Shriya Saran plays Nandini. Jaideep Ahlawat joins the ensemble as SP Rajveer Singh Tomar, a new police officer whose confrontations with Vijay have drawn their own share of praise from audiences. Rajat Kapoor, Prakash Raj, Kamlesh Sawant, Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav round out the cast.
Directed by Abhishek Pathak and produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak, Drishyam: The Conclusion opened in theatres on October 2 and has already posted strong numbers, with worldwide collections reported past Rs 479.80 crore and the India gross crossing Rs 370.80 crore.
For Mohanlal, the man who played this character first, the Hindi version going off-script and still landing seems to matter more than fidelity to the original. What happens to the franchise after this, whether it's really the last word on Vijay Salgaonkar or just another pause before the next one, is a question nobody at the FICCI Frames session chose to answer.
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