Drishyam 3 hits Rs 272.80 cr worldwide amid 100-draft reveal

Drishyam 3: The Conclusion has turned its opening weekend into a statement. By Sunday, the Hindi thriller had crossed Rs 272.80 crore in worldwide gross, according to Sacnilk, while screenwriter Aamil Keeyan Khan revealed that the script went through more than a hundred drafts before the final cut began to take shape.

The third film’s real job: surprise an audience that already knows

Screenwriter Aamil Keeyan Khan described the task as ‘an enormous mountain to climb’. The first film introduced Vijay Salgaonkar as almost a blank slate; by the third chapter, viewers know his mind, his tricks, and his tendency to be several steps ahead.

‘It was a very, very thin tightrope,’ Khan told The Free Press Journal. ‘Thankfully, none of us looked down.’

Khan said the screenplay still had to carry the franchise’s signature mix: humour, family, emotion, drama and thrills, with no single element swallowing the rest.

Well over 100 drafts, and a folder called ‘FINAL PLEASE GOD’

Asked how many versions the script went through, Khan admitted he had lost count. He described folders inside folders, dated drafts, numbered drafts, and file names that escalated from ‘FINAL’ to ‘FINAL 2’ to ‘FINAL FINAL’ and, in his words, presumably ‘FINAL PLEASE GOD’.

‘I have genuinely lost count, but well over a hundred drafts in different forms. Easily,’ he said.

The rewrite count is a reminder of how much iteration goes into a franchise that has to respect its past while still feeling new.

A climax locked down like a Salgaonkar operation

The production also protected the ending in a very Drishyam way. Khan said Abhishek ran the production like Vijay Salgaonkar would. The climax was not shared with a large section of the cast and crew; departments often received only the information needed to execute a scene, not the reason behind it.

‘People got information on a need-to-know basis,’ Khan said. He added that cast, crew, and even his own friends and relatives tried to bribe him for the ending, but he stayed loyal to the producers.

For the audience, the locked-down climax matters because the entire franchise runs on a twist. If the ending leaks, the film loses its central advantage; if it stays hidden, even viewers who know Vijay’s tricks get the surprise the makers intended.

Box office: a fast start

• India net: over Rs 150 crore in three days; Sunday alone added Rs 61 crore net.
• India gross: Rs 211.80 crore.
• Overseas gross: Rs 61 crore.
• Worldwide gross: Rs 272.80 crore.

The film has maintained a strong theatrical run; the coming weekdays will show whether the guarded climax and word of mouth extend it further.

Source: The Times of India