New Delhi: The Drishyam films can now be called one of the most successful adaptations across different Indian languages. It all started with Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam film Drishyam, released in 2013. What followed was its remake in Kannada and Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Sinhala, Mandarin and Indonesian.
Joseph’s film starred Mohanlal alongside Meena, Aniba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Asha Sharath and Neeraj Madhav. The film was made on a reported budget of Rs 5 crore and collected nearly Rs 62 crore at the box office, becoming the highest-grossing Malayalam film of the year. It also became the first Malayalam film to collect Rs 50 crore and ran for nearly 125 days in the United Arab Emirates.
Its sequel, Drishyam 2, was released in 2021, while the third part, Drishyam 3, was released in 2026. The film collected nearly Rs 237 crore, becoming the highest-grossing film in the Malayalam franchise.
The franchise follows a family whose daughter is harassed by a police officer’s son. During a confrontation, the mother and daughter accidentally kill him, forcing the father to make an elaborate plan to protect his family from the police.
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Remaking magic
The remakes started soon after the success of the original. The first was the Kannada remake, Drishya (2014), directed by P Vasu. The film starred Ravichandran, Navya Nair and Asha Sharath. Its sequel, Drishya 2, was released in 2021.
The same year came the Telugu version of the film, Drushyam, directed by Sripriya, with Venkatesh, Meena and Nadhiya. The film was made on a reported budget of Rs 6 crore and collected nearly Rs 20 crore. Its sequel was also released in 2021.
Then in 2015, remakes came out in two languages. The Tamil version, Papanasam, was directed by Joseph himself. The film starred Kamal Haasan, Gautami and Asha Sharath and collected nearly Rs 100 crore worldwide.
The Hindi version, Drishyam (2015), was directed by Nishikant Kamat, starring Ajay Devgn, Shriya Saran, Tabu and Rajat Kapoor. The film was made on a reported budget of around Rs 38 crore and collected over Rs 110 crore worldwide. Its sequel was released seven years later, in 2022, with Abhishek Pathak directing. The film collected nearly Rs 345 crore worldwide against a budget of Rs 50 crore.
The third and final instalment in the Hindi franchise, Drishyam: The Conclusion, was released on 2 October. The film had the second-biggest opening among Hindi films of 2026 after Dhurandhar: The Revenge, collecting Rs 66.75 crore net in India on its opening day. It also recorded the biggest opening day of Ajay Devgn’s career, surpassing Singham Again (2024).
The run of international remakes started with the Sri Lankan adaptation, Dharmayuddhaya, in 2017. Directed by Cheyyar Ravi, the Sinhalese film starred Jackson Anthony, Dilhani Ekanayake and Kusum Renu and was produced by MTV. The film was a shot-for-shot remake of the Malayalam version and ran for nearly 100 days in theatres across the small island nation.
Almost a decade later, Dharmayuddhaya 2 was released in 2026. Directed by Aruna Jayawardene, the film starred Bimal Jayakody, Dilhani Ekanayake and Kusum Renu. It too became a major success in Sri Lanka, crossing 500 million LKR at the local box office.
The Mandarin remake came in 2019 with Sheep Without a Shepherd, directed by Sam Quah and starring Xiao Yang, Tan Zhuo and Joan Chen. The film became a major box office success in China, collecting approximately $191.6 million worldwide.
And the Indonesian version, Ayah, Aku Mau Cerita, was released in August this year. Directed by Danial Rifki, it stars Vino G Bastian, Niken Anjani, Marsha Timothy and Ziva Magnolya. The film was released in Indonesian cinemas on 20 August.