In Drishyam 2, there is much more swag and it’s more sensational than the original. Do you think that’s something the Hindi audiences like? Tell me your thought process behind the changes you made from the original.
That’s exactly right – there is swag in the film. We were not making a typical big-budget action masala commercial film like a Singham (2011) or [the] KGF [films] because the character or story never had that kind of a world. But we made sure that every shot had an interesting element to it, where it felt like a moment to the audience. A lot of sequences are shot in slow motion to hype the audience and give that little high so that they will want to come to the edge of their seat and want to watch what comes next. So that kind of treatment – the swag of the characters and the way they talk in the film – we tried to amplify it and take it a notch up. We wanted to make a very commercial thriller for the masses. That’s what made the difference in this remake – we got the masala in it without losing the soul of the film.
Do you think Drishyam 2’s theatre run is going to impact the films that come later?
We knew we would have a good run in the theatre, but people choosing our film over others is something that is completely up to the people. They know exactly what they want to see, we cannot really predict or decide. People are very smart. They know whether they want to go to a theatre to watch a film or not. Fortunately, we are doing good numbers and Bhediya (2022) also did . Who is scoring what is secondary but the fact that people are coming to the theatres to watch both films is important. We might have scored more than them but they also scored very well in terms of numbers, considering [the state the industry was in] even two months back. It is a very good time for films. The next big film is Avatar 2 and we should have a good run till then.
Do you think the availability of the original film, especially its Hindi dubbing, makes an impact on how a remake is viewed?
I think there is a little impact for sure. I will not completely ignore it and say that it doesn’t matter. Fortunately, when we made Drishyam, people connected to the world of the film and the whole journey of Vijay Salgaonkar. So when the [second part of the] Malayalam film comes out first, people don’t necessarily want to watch it – here, I am talking about the Hindi-speaking audience. They would want to wait for the Hindi version because that is the story they have seen and connected with. That’s what worked in our favour too. So, although the Malayalam version was out on OTT with English subtitles, there were no Hindi subtitles or a Hindi dub at all. People waited for the Hindi version to come out and continue the journey with the same actors. I am glad we were able to deliver something that they loved so much. So, I would say that there was a little impact but it was very minuscule.