Drishyam 2 is a strong thriller that stays loyal to the themes of the original.

 When Drishyam was released in 2015, two years after the Malayalam thriller of the same name starring Mohanlal, it immediately became a hit not only because of its intriguing premise and twists and turns, but also because a sizable portion of the Hindi film-watching audience hadn't been exposed to as much so-called regional cinema. Seven years ago, the term "OTT" didn't exist and we weren't as skilled at "reading" movies in addition to "viewing" them.

The Hindi remake of Jeethu Joseph's Malayalam original, Drishyam, starring Ajay Devgn, was so faithful to the source material that many of us later watched the Malayalam version once it was made available for streaming. When Drishyam 2: The Resumption, which once again featured Mohanlal as the lead character, was released exclusively on streaming in 2021, the Drishyam franchise had grown to such a strong level across all languages — aside from Malayalam and Hindi, it has also been remade in Kannada, Tamil, even Sinhala and Chinese — that the majority of viewers tuned in on the first day of release.

The Friday release of Drishyam 2 in Hindi capitalises on this trend. Many of us can't recall what happened in our life yesterday, but we can recall what Vijay Salgaokar (Devgn) and his family were doing on October 2, 2014. It has been a much anticipated sequel. It cannot be denied that many audience members will have seen the original when they enter the theater, even though interest in Drishyam 2 is still high and will undoubtedly translate into respectable attendance over the weekend.

Additionally, Drishyam 2 is an exact replica of itself. That's a really difficult tightrope to walk for any adaptation or remake, but especially for a thriller, to be honest. By watching the movie again in a different language, you can easily predict when the game is about to change. However, for those who haven't seen the original, Drishyam 2 does live up to the suspenseful template that the first movie teased us with.

Following the same plot points as its predecessor, Drishyam 2 is directed by newcomer Abhishek Pathak after Nishikant Kamat passed away two years earlier. The beginning takes a little while to get going, but it's on purpose to create the pressure cooker-like atmosphere that leads to Vijay, his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran), and their daughter Anju (Ishita Dutta) being investigated. The police are still snooping around Vijay's toes in search of the body he buried seven years ago, and things pick up speed when a new top cop (Akshaye Khanna) and Tabu's Meera, a mother and law enforcer who is equally vengeful and grieving, show up.

Apart from the thriller element, the hero in the middle of the film—who may appear to be the underdog but is anything but—is what makes the Drishyam movies work. In fact, just like in the first movie, Vijay uses his apparent frailty to his advantage by staying one step ahead of the law and keeping the audience on edge. In the end, Vijay connects with the audience because he's just a middle-class man doing whatever it takes to defend his family. The movies make us want to cheer for him because we think that even if the murder was wrong, the context and circumstances made it acceptable.

"Sawaal hain ki aap kya dekh rahe ho, sawaal yeh nahin hai ki aapke aankhon ke saamne kya hain?" Amitabh Bachchan said in Badla, another sharp thriller-remake, "Kya main wahin chhay dekh raha hoon jo tumne mujhe dikhaya ya woh nau jo mujhe dekhna chahiye tha?" Drishyam 2 follows this traditional structure that defines every effective thriller.

Building on this ambiguity of thinking and intent, Drishyam 2 maintains a tight grip by leading the audience to assume that only he is aware of the protagonist's secret before suddenly pulling the rug out from under us. That is the sign of a strong thriller, and Drishyam 2 succeeds in maintaining that quality despite being a remake.