6 October 2026 (Navroze Bureau) Ajay Devgn’s Drishyam 3 has once again brought the popular thriller franchise into the spotlight, but the film’s appeal goes beyond its familiar themes of family, protection and survival. At its heart, the franchise has always been deeply connected to the idea of movies and the power of storytelling, using cinema itself as an important part of its narrative language.
The Drishyam series has built its identity around Vijay Salgaonkar, played by Ajay Devgn, a man with an extraordinary interest in films who uses his knowledge of cinema to protect his family. What initially appears to be a story about an ordinary family caught in an extraordinary situation gradually becomes a larger exploration of how movies can influence memory, perception and even the construction of an alibi.
In Drishyam 3, this relationship between the protagonist and cinema becomes particularly significant. Vijay’s familiarity with films is not simply a character trait added for entertainment. It has become an essential part of the franchise’s storytelling formula. Movies provide him with ideas, references and possibilities that help him anticipate how investigators might reconstruct events.
That makes the franchise unusual among mainstream Indian thrillers. The films do not merely tell a suspense story; they repeatedly remind audiences that they are watching a movie about a man who understands movies. This creates a layered relationship between the viewer, the protagonist and the story being constructed on screen.
Family, of course, remains central to Drishyam. Vijay’s actions originate from his determination to protect his wife Nandini and his daughters. The emotional foundation of the franchise comes from the lengths to which a parent can go when confronted with a threat to their family.
However, the family element works alongside another major theme: storytelling. Vijay does not simply hide evidence. He creates a version of events. He understands that investigators, like audiences, search for a coherent narrative. If a story appears convincing enough and is supported by apparently ordinary details, it can influence what people believe actually happened.
This idea gives Drishyam its distinctive tension. The audience knows that Vijay is manipulating the truth, but the thrill comes from watching how carefully he constructs his alternative reality. Dates, locations, movie screenings, travel plans and everyday activities become pieces of a larger cinematic puzzle.
The franchise’s fascination with cinema also allows it to play with the audience’s own expectations. Viewers are encouraged to remember earlier films, recognise familiar patterns and anticipate the next twist. The storytelling therefore operates on more than one level: Vijay is constructing a story within the film, while the filmmakers are constructing another story for the audience.
Drishyam 3 inherits this legacy while attempting to expand the franchise. The challenge for the third instalment is significant because audiences already understand the central premise and are familiar with Vijay’s methods. The film therefore needs to provide fresh suspense while retaining the elements that made the earlier chapters successful.
Ajay Devgn’s portrayal remains crucial to this balance. Vijay is not presented as a conventional action hero. His strength lies in his ability to observe, plan and understand people. His knowledge of cinema becomes almost another form of intelligence, allowing him to think several steps ahead.
The franchise has also benefited from its ensemble cast. Shriya Saran’s portrayal of Nandini has been important to the emotional dimension of the story, while Tabu’s character Meera Deshmukh provided a formidable investigative counterpoint in the earlier films. Their conflict was not simply between police and suspect; it was a battle between two competing versions of the truth.
This makes the Drishyam films particularly interesting from a cinematic perspective. The audience is repeatedly asked to consider whether truth is determined by what actually happened or by the version of events that can be convincingly established.
The third film also arrives at a time when Indian audiences have become increasingly comfortable with interconnected franchises and recurring characters. This creates both an opportunity and a challenge. Viewers bring memories of previous films into the theatre, meaning that filmmakers must work with an audience that already understands the world and its rules.
For Drishyam 3, the emotional stakes remain tied to the Salgaonkar family, but the larger appeal comes from watching how the story itself is constructed. Cinema is not merely a backdrop in Vijay’s world. It is part of his way of understanding reality.
That is perhaps why the franchise has remained memorable beyond its twists. Its central question is not simply whether a family can escape the consequences of a crime. It is whether a carefully constructed story can become more powerful than the truth it is designed to conceal.
With Drishyam 3, Ajay Devgn’s franchise once again places movies at the centre of its identity. Family provides the emotional motivation, suspense provides the immediate excitement, but cinema provides the language through which Vijay Salgaonkar survives.