Drishyam is not a horror-movie but the fear factor remains alive all along the movie. The base line of the movie is so real that by the end of it you would be grappling with: ‘What if it happens to me or my family…?”
A spoilt brat threatens to tear apart the endearing family of Vijay (Ajay Devgn), his wife, Nandini (Shriya Saran), and their two daughters when he blackmails the elder one (Ishita Dutta), in her teens, asking for illicit favours.
He has a video that he filmed on the young girl in the ladies restroom using a concealed mobile-phone camera. This happens on an earlier school-sponsored nature-camp where the girl had been ‘selected’ for the trip.
This is what makes the movie dead-scary. Think about it: Having watched this reel-life fiction, in real life you are likely to be reminded of this event more often than not.
Vijay, an illiterate but shrewd cable-TV operator, is a movie-buff who doesn’t miss out on any movie, has a word of practical advice for anyone who is in trouble. His source: Scenes from the countless movies he has watched.
Events transpire at a quick pace and here after the mother and daughter duo kill the young fellow in an act of self-defense.
And just when you wonder that this is going to be an extended ‘taareek-pe-taareek’ courtroom drama, the bewildered yet steadfast Vijay resolves to script his own thriller-version of an Indian movie. Pledging to pull-out his family from this mess without admission of guilt, he meticulously scripts the future and rightly earns applaud from the galleries.
The deceased boy is none other than the son of Inspector-General of Police, Meera (Tabu) and her industrialist husband (Rajat Kapur).
Here onward, the ‘cat and mouse’ game commences between the lady and Vijay. It seems like a perfect murder where there is hardly any evidence or witness or even grounds of suspicion to arrest anyone from Vijay’s family. But somehow Police have laid their eyes on Vijay.
It’s a fascinating tale loaded with twists and turns. When strangers coherently testify in favour of Devgn’s stories, Tabu renders a beautiful explanation to ‘Drishyam’, i.e. the power of visuals and how strongly it affects our memory to the extent of forgetting reality.
Notwithstanding the drama and the suspense, the movie keeps you sympathetic towards Vijay and his cute family. You never wish that the law catches up them. Go further, you pray that they escape scathe-free. Such is the bonding the family develops with the viewer. Beyond a point, you don’t worry about ‘who is right, who is wrong?’, you just want the family to be safe, hale and hearty, like it was before.
Unfortunately, the fear of mediocre performances looms large on the movie. If not for the sheer brilliance of its script and the enthralling sequencing of events, Drishyam would have passed unnoticed.
Tabu, as IG of Police, is a huge disappointment in Drishyam. Her power-laden introduction as a cop, just before the intermission, promises a mouth-watering finish to the upcoming face-off between her and Ajay Devgn. But disheartening it may be for many of her fans from yesteryear, there isn’t a single argumentative scene between the two main protagonists.
Devgn’s forte is dialogue-delivery during arguments; that remains unexploited in Drishyam.
The poorly scripted cop-to-cop interaction adds to further misery of the audience. The sequences where the cops are dissecting the possible events that might have transpired are so flawed and mediocre that you wonder if there is any other cop apart from Tabu who can ‘think’. They all look so dwarfed and contained in front of her.
In one scene, Tabu laments, “saare police department ka mazaak bana ke rakh diya is chauthi fail anpad ne..” (The 4th-standard flunk, illiterate has mocked the whole Police Department).
In fact, Devgn only adds to Police’s misery. They themselves make a laughing stock of their competency and skills. For some reason beyond comprehension, Meera keeps herself surrounded by petty cops instead of some smart guys who can provide her valuable leads.
The ‘personal’ element is missing in this saga for IG Meera. Her son is missing and that’s not an ordinary event in a mother’s life no matter what colored uniform she dresses up in. She looks more interested in solving the case for the intellectual challenge it has thrown at her. Even as she breaks down a few times, the mother in Meera never looks worried or shaken-up.
The pursuit of Vijay to bring the case to a conclusion favoring his family is what keeps the thrill intact throughout the movie. If not for this reason, the loose ends continuously threaten to outweigh the powerful central theme of the narrative.
Drishyam is more about Ajay than Vijay. No matter how many justifications one presents for Ajay Devgn’s character, it comes out as incoherent. How can a person, in know-how of the situation, plans all his moves to save his family, but never worries about their frailness and vulnerability in case of eventualities?
Seeing his antics, how much ever unreal it may appear when you look back, he should have been fittingly offered the job of a cop.
Performances from the child artists are palpable, packed and credible. Shriya Saran as Vijay’s wife never goes beyond being visually scared. Much early on, her fear starts to look repetitive and stale.
Rajat Kapur’s role as Meera’s husband is a face-saver in the scenes involving the khakhi-clad men. On almost all occasions, he tends to put some sense in the power-inebriated cops who have only one solution to offer: ‘let’s-bash-up-and-get-a-confession’.
One character which stands out is that of the despicable Inspector Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant). First you dislike him, and by the end of it you are filled with abhorrence for him. This depiction is not an easy feat for an actor who just has the role of a sidekick cop.
The songs in the movie (music director, Vishal) appear melodious but fail to leave a lasting impression. The excellent background score, the picturesque locations, thanks to some lovely camerawork, makes you fall in love with Goa all over again.
All said and done, the ‘What’s next?’ aspect of the movie keeps you glued to your seat. Certainly the curiosity lasts till the end making the three hours worthwhile.
I would go with 3/5 for the involvement it commands from its audience.
Randomly Here and There 
Nicely written review. I very much agree with the disappointments on the performance front – esp. For Tabu, who rarely looks like a mother grappling with lost son in the movie.
Btw, loved the phrase “let’s-bash-up-and-get-it-a-confession” 😉