The biggest secret in a Drishyam film is always the climax. Director Abhishek Pathak knew that while making Drishyam: The Conclusion, and he went to great lengths to make sure the ending stayed hidden. In fact, several members of his own crew were not given the complete script because the filmmaker wanted to protect the final reveal.
The Hindi version of Drishyam: The Conclusion also has a different climax from the Malayalam version starring Mohanlal, which released earlier this year. That made secrecy even more important as the team worked on the final chapter.
Why The Crew Wasn’t Given The Full Script
Usually, department heads and crew members receive the complete bound script well before filming begins. It helps them prepare for their respective portions of the film. Pathak, however, decided to hold back the climax for as long as possible. He reveals
“Initially, the script was not given to a lot of people in the crew. We were holding the draft as long as possible, until people began coming to my door and asking for the script as they had to start working! Only then I gave it to them… but without the climax.”
The director says that several crew members therefore did not know how the story would eventually conclude.
“So a lot of crew members didn’t know the climax of the film! It wasn’t given to a lot of people because we were a little worried.”
Pathak did not completely keep everyone away from the material. For certain heads of departments, knowing the climax was simply not necessary for their preparation. He added,
“For some HODs, knowing the climax was not going to change their preparation. They really didn’t have to worry about what he (Vijay) would do in that particular scene. So I’d tell them, ‘I’ll give you a brief about what I need from you in this particular scene… but you don’t need to know what exactly is happening at this point.”.
The director also credits his crew for understanding the importance of keeping the secret.
“Having said that, the whole crew is a family. We’ve been working since the second part, so they all know how important this film is for even them. Everyone has been nice and understanding.”
Pathak Studied Fan Theories To Avoid The Obvious
Keeping the climax secret was not limited to the sets. Pathak also wanted to make sure the film did not simply follow theories that had already become popular among Drishyam fans.
The filmmaker spent months going through fan theories on Reddit and other platforms. He used those discussions to understand what audiences were expecting and then deliberately moved away from the most obvious possibilities. He continued,
“I actually went through a lot of fan theories on Reddit and the Internet. We were like, ‘Four people are talking about this, five people are talking about that… so it cannot happen.’ We were trying to stay away from the obvious, and come with something that people weren’t expecting at all.”
Editing Helped Protect The Big Reveal
The secrecy continued during the editing process. Pathak explains that the team had around 10 days of shooting still pending after they reached the edit.
“We shot the film, came on the edit, and there was maybe a 10-day shoot pending. In the pending shoot, we actually recorded voice-overs and put everything on the edit to make it better… to hide information and reveal certain things in a way that people enjoy it much better.”
This allowed the team to control how information was revealed to the audience. The idea was to hold back key details without making the storytelling feel forced.
“The Climax Is The Real Show”
For Pathak, all these efforts were ultimately about protecting the experience of watching the film for the first time. The director says that the “climax is the real (star of the) show.”
He adds, “If the big reveal can be held for as long as possible, that’s the best thing!”
That approach perfectly fits a franchise where secrets, theories and unexpected turns have always been central to the experience. With the Hindi film taking its own route in the climax, Pathak and his team clearly want audiences to discover the final piece themselves.
Drishyam: The Conclusion Release Date
Drishyam: The Conclusion arrives in cinemas on October 2. With Abhishek Pathak keeping the climax away from much of his crew and deliberately avoiding fan theories that had become predictable, the film is heading towards its theatrical release with its biggest secret still under wraps.
For Drishyam fans, that makes the theatrical experience even more important. The final reveal is something Pathak wants audiences to discover on the big screen, rather than through theories or spoilers.
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