Drishyam 3

A franchise built on the perfect crime

The third chapter of India's most gripping cat-and-mouse franchise arrives with Drishyam 3, the Hindi thriller directed by Abhishek Pathak and scheduled for a theatrical release on 2 October 2026, timed to the Gandhi Jayanti holiday. It continues the story of Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn), the small-town Goan cable operator and film buff whose devotion to his family once led him to engineer a near-perfect cover-up, and whose duel of wits with the police has powered two of Bollywood's most talked-about thrillers.

The Hindi Drishyam films are part of a remarkable remake lineage that traces back to Jeethu Joseph's Malayalam original. The first Hindi film, Drishyam (2015), was directed by Nishikant Kamat; Abhishek Pathak took the reins for Drishyam 2 (2022), adapting Joseph's 2021 Malayalam sequel. Each installment has revolved around the same taut premise: an ordinary man protecting his wife and daughters from the consequences of a death, and a police force, led by the formidable Meera Deshmukh, determined to prove what it cannot see.

What is known about the film

Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay Salgaonkar, with Tabu reprising IG Meera Deshmukh, the relentless officer who has been both his adversary and, by the close of the last film, a grudging counterpart. Shriya Saran and Ishita Dutta come back as his wife Nandini and daughter Anju, alongside Rajat Kapoor. The most talked-about additions are Jaideep Ahlawat, one of India's most respected character actors, and veteran Prakash Raj, both of whom join the franchise for the first time and are expected to sharpen the film's confrontations.

The film is produced by Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak under Panorama Studios, presented by Star Studio18, with a screenplay credited to Abhishek Pathak, Aamil Keeyan Khan and Parveez Shaikh. Principal photography wrapped in early June 2026, after which the makers confirmed the film had entered post-production. As this is an upcoming release, plot specifics are being kept under wraps, and no reviews or box-office figures exist yet; the studio's logline simply teases whether the Salgaonkars can outwit the system once more.

The makers and a deliberate divergence

A defining feature of this installment is that it is not a straight copy of the Malayalam Drishyam 3, which released worldwide on 21 May 2026 with Mohanlal. Director Abhishek Pathak has said he wrote a distinct storyline for Hindi audiences, describing the Malayalam version as leaning more toward family drama while his adaptation leans toward a family thriller. The two films were mounted as separate productions rather than a shot-for-shot remake.

On the music front, the franchise brings in composer Ravi Basrur, best known for the pulsating scores of KGF and Salaar. His arrival marks a fresh sonic identity for the series, and reunites him with Ajay Devgn after their earlier collaborations on Bholaa and Singham Again. Each Hindi Drishyam has rotated its creative team, and Basrur's high-intensity sound signals the more thriller-forward tone Pathak has promised.

Why it matters

Anticipation is high in large part because of what came before. Drishyam 2 (2022) was a genuine phenomenon, earning strongly across a long theatrical run to become one of Ajay Devgn's biggest hits and among the highest-grossing Hindi films of its year, with worldwide gross figures widely reported in the region of 340 crore. That success turned a modest suspense drama into a marquee event franchise.

For a Mumbai audience raised on edge-of-the-seat storytelling, Drishyam 3 represents the rare Indian series that trades explosions for pure ingenuity, where the weapon is a clever alibi and the battlefield is a police interrogation room. With a beloved lead, a returning nemesis in Tabu, formidable new faces and a director determined to take the Hindi chapter down its own path, it is shaping up as one of the most awaited releases of late 2026.

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