Jeetu Joseph recently opened up about the origin story of Drishyam and how a casual conversation with a group of friends 25 years ago gave birth to the film.
Writer-director Jeethu Joseph’s Drishyam (2013) is undoubtedly one of the most influential and impactful Indian films of the 21st century. A crime drama revolving around the lives of a rural family willing to go to any lengths to ensure that a murder they commit is never proven, the third installment of Drishyam is now on its way. According to the producers, the new film will go on floors in October, with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal returning as the “classic criminal” Georgekutty.
In a recent interview, Jeethu opened up about the film’s origin story and how a casual conversation with a group of friends a quarter century ago laid the foundation for “Drishyam.” He explained that the film’s one-liners took seven years to complete, and it was initially planned as a courtroom drama.
Jeetu Joseph told Galata Plus, “It was in 2000. We were having a meeting with some friends. A friend of a friend was present, and he was discussing issues between two families. There was a boy and a girl, they were in love, and the matter reached the police. However, one of his words struck me. He said, ‘Both families are right and wrong. I don’t know which one to side with.’ So, I started writing on that idea: a boy and a girl, and the love affair was being exposed by both families. It was a courtroom drama. Then I realized that would be boring.”
He further added, “As the years went by, I did other films and when issues like mobile phone misuse came up, I incorporated that idea into the story. Later, I added the murder part as well. I basically created a story over seven years. At that time, there was no police station in the story… A colleague of mine created the interesting character of a C-class cinema owner.”
“When I finished my script, the climax was like two families finally meeting each other and standing at the grave (of Varun Prabhakar, who was ‘accidentally’ murdered by Georgekutty’s daughter and wife). I wasn’t happy with that climax. It seemed a coincidence that they were standing at the place where he was buried. Around the same time, I made a documentary for the Janamaithri police station. One day while playing Shuttle, an idea came to my mind: why not bury the body in the police station itself? I got goosebumps, and I went back and rewrote the script and included the police station as a character,” he said.
