With the franchise's finale ten days from release, the actress reflects on leaving behind a character she calls one of her most personal roles yet.
Ten days out from release, and the cast of Drishyam: The Conclusion is already looking back rather than ahead. Shriya Saran, who has played Nandini across all three films, spoke about what it felt like to shoot her final scenes for the franchise that's followed the Salgaonkar family since 2013.
The film hits theatres October 2. Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay Salgaonkar, the video store owner whose old lie is about to catch up with him, this time with Jaideep Ahlawat playing the SP of the Crime Branch closing in on him. Tabu comes back as Meera Deshmukh, Prakash Raj returns too, and the ensemble includes Rajat Kapoor, Kamlesh Sawant, Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav.
Saran's Nandini has always been the quieter half of the film's central marriage, the one whose choices set the entire plot in motion back in part one. Asked about that arc, she traced it across the trilogy. "Nandini will always be very close to my heart," she said. "Nandini and Vijay have this very beautiful relationship where Vijay never says that Nandini did anything wrong, except for the 1st part where she says, 'Main ne sab theek kia na' and he says, 'Nahi, vo humare pass vapis aaenge' after that he's always supported her."
She pointed to a single line that, in her telling, threads the whole trilogy together. "There's a beautiful line which goes on from part 1 to the conclusion, and she says, 'Dhum Ghut ta hai' and I feel that explains what she is going through: pain, fear, what will happen tomorrow, and the fear of losing a family and wanting to be there for her children."
The last day on set stayed with her longer than she expected. "I remember leaving the set, last time I looked at the dinner table, they spent so much time there, so much shot there, in the house, and I felt like, 'This is going away,' but the memories that I've had, so much I've learnt, and how beautifully it's written, it will always stay with me."
Drishyam: The Conclusion is directed by Abhishek Pathak, who also co-wrote it with Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Pathak himself produce under the Panorama Studios banner, presented by Star Studio18.
The first two films built a reputation for opening strong and holding through word of mouth. Whether the finale, arriving with a heavier ensemble and a new antagonist in Ahlawat, can match that pattern will be clear soon enough. October 2 is close now, and the only number that matters is the one at the box office that weekend.
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