The Malayalam murder-mystery Drishyam (2013) was a theatrical success. People who have watched the film would know that it is not a whodunit, yet a gripping narrative throughout. The story is about how a family gets embroiled in a police investigation following a senior police officer’s son (Varun played by Roshan Basheer) goes missing.
Not only did the film perform well at the box office, it garnered a great response from audiences and critics alike, so much so that it went on to be remade in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi. Now, seven years since its release, writer-director Jeethu Joseph is back with its sequel, Drishyam 2: The Resumption.
Drishyam (2013) is streaming for free on Disney+Hotstar.
The Mohanlal starrer much like its prequel is an interesting thriller. The plot picks off six years after from where the first installment wrapped up. The protagonist Georgekutty is a theatre owner now who also continues to run his old cable connection business, owns an SUV, and is a prospective film producer as well; has splurged around 15 lakhs working with a veteran writer over a script. However, most of the around 150-minute long film is not too fast paced.
Much of the narrative is spent on establishing how the past looms around the town, and how the family is still far from complete recuperation from the incident. The women in the house, the mother, Rani (Meena), and daughters Anju (Ansiba) and Anu (Esther Anil) do not contribute much to the thriller aspect of the film as such. As they were kept in the dark before, they continue to be unaware of most of the events that transpire.
A wee while into the film the audience learn that the police have not entirely given up on the investigation, and have even taken to unlawful means to attain the goal; to locate the yet to be retrieved bodily remains of the boy. Moreover, the opening shots of the film itself convey this very well cementing the fact that once again the past is going to be dug up, both literally and figuratively.
The rave reviews this film has been receiving is partly because of the extremely low expectations set for sequels from past experience, especially in this genre. Perhaps the tight script of first film is also responsible for this. Regardless of it all, it is only the last 40 minutes or so that manage to save Drishyam 2 from disappointing its audience who have been anticipating its release for quite a few months now.
It is in this stretch of the film that the family faces interrogation and yet again Georgekutty, ever the cinema connoisseur that he is, as always tries to protect his family. The climax does involve surprises, but eventually the film resolves in a very much expected manner.
Drishyam 2: The Resumption had an exclusive release on Amazon Prime Video on 19th February 2021.