EXCLUSIVE | Abhishek Pathak on Drishyam 2's success amid failure of remakes: 'Part 1's cult following got people back'

Abhishek Pathak, the man who made his directorial debut on November 18 with Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 2, has done the unthinkable. He made a staggering success out of a remake in 2022, arguably the most shattering year for Hindi cinema. Remakes like Jersey, Milli, Vikram Vedha, HIT: The First Case, came and collapsed, respectable reviews notwithstanding. Maybe it was then the massive following of the first Drishyam that dragged the nation inside the cinema halls.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Pathak says the success doesn’t really come as a surprise, what makes Devgn stay reticent despite the blockbuster result, and what we can expect from the third part, which would serve as a conclusion.

The success of Drishyam 2 doesn’t come as a surprise, does it?

No actually. We were expecting it to do pretty good but it’s going beyond our expectations and we all are very happy about it.

Given the recent failures of remakes, people said they wouldn’t work anymore. Drishyam 2 has proven the myth wrong. Why do feel it worked at such a staggering level?

I think there’s a great fan following that worked for Drishyam. The franchise has a cult fan following that has encouraged people and got them to cinemas to see the story further. The way we made the film, they enjoyed every part of it. They never thought that thrillers cannot become a mass film, we gave a little edge to it and made it more massy, than how thrillers are made. That has worked with the audience I think. They loved the idea of clapping in theatre and whistling in theatre, and that doesn’t really happen in thriller films. The word of mouth has spread like fire and everyone wants to come and watch the film in theatre. So I think that has really worked big time.

Ajay Devgn’s character Vijay Salgaonkar always outsmarts the police and yet, he refuses to make an eye contact with Tabu and Rajat Kapoor. Is it guilt or something deeper?

I think it’s guilt. He knows internally what he has done is not right but that’s the only option he was left with. Sameer Deshmukh has done something wrong, an accident happened and he couldn’t survive. To protect his family, he now needs to do everything possible; it might not be right or nice but he has to do it for his family. What he did wasn’t right but right for his family and he knows about it.

The moment Ajay Devgn said that line about being at Swami Chinmayanand’s satsang on October 2 and 3, the entire hall erupted. What makes such a simple line so iconic?

I think October 2 and 3 have a great connect with the audience. Every year on these two dates, people start saying Vijay went with his family to Panjim to eat Pav Bhaji. The line has connected big time with the people, they make jokes, memes, and they have made the film live very strongly. We made sure we incorporate October 2 and 3 two to three times in the film. Gaitonde says this, even Ajay sir says this. I knew people will start clapping when this scene comes. I’m glad people are reacting at the right spot.

Ajay Devgn is not screaming from the roofs about the blockbuster success of the film or bragging about it on social media. Has he always been so calm about success and even failure?

We have known him for so many years. He doesn’t want to brag about himself, he’s a pure professional artist. He’s not a very out there guy but he just focuses on his work and delivering a good film. Success and failure is not in our hands, it’s the audience that makes us what we are. Ajay sir has given some of the biggest blockbusters, great characters, be it Company or The Legend of Bhagat Singh or Zakhm or Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or Tanhaji. I have never seen him announce that he has given a blockbuster. Everyone knows it’s a blockbuster, you don’t have to shout.

What can we expect from Drishyam 3? Is the battle between Vijay and the police still on?

We are just living with the success of this film right now. Once we have something concrete on what we want to do with part 3, there are some ideas, we will discuss. Let’s see how it comes out.

Read all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.