''Drushyam 2'' () is a 2021 Indian
Telugu-language
crime thriller
Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
film written and directed by
Jeethu Joseph
Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also worked in a few Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu Cinema, Telugu films. Jeethu made his d ...
. It is a remake of his 2021
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
film ''
Drishyam 2
''Drishyam 2: The Resumption'', or simply ''Drishyam 2'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Aashirvad Cinemas. A sequ ...
'' and sequel to ''
Drushyam'' (2014). The film was jointly produced by
D. Suresh Babu,
Antony Perumbavoor,
Rajkumar Sethupathi
Rajkumar Sethupathy is an Indian actor who acts predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in 50 movies in both Malayalam and Tamil films. He started his film career in the Tamil film ''Soolam'', directed by M. Bhaskar, then with ...
, and Jacob K. Babu through the companies
Suresh Productions
Suresh Productions (also known as Suresh Movies, Vijaya Suresh Combines) is an Cinema of India, Indian film production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company known for its works in Telugu cinema. It is established in 19 ...
, RajKumar Theatres, and Max Movies. It stars
Venkatesh,
Meena
Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a
Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...
,
Nadhiya,
Naresh,
Kruthika and
Esther Anil
Esther Anil (born 27 August 2001) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Malayalam films, in addition to few Telugu and Tamil films.
Career
She debuted as a child artist in a Malayalam film '' Nallavan'' in 2010. She is best known for h ...
reprising their roles from first part, with
Sampath Raj
Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films.
He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
and
Poorna as new additions. The story takes place six years after the events of ''Drushyam''.
''Drushyam 2'' was released on
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
on 25 November 2021. It received highly positive reviews from critics and audiences, claiming that the film's sequel is much better and improved than its predecessor. It was dubbed in Hindi as ''Aankhen 2'' in 2023.
Plot
On the night of 3 August 2014, Janardhan sees Rambabu exiting an under-construction police station (burying Varun's body at the end of ''
Drushyam'') as he flees from the authorities after murdering his brother-in-law. He attempts to apologize to his wife and hide at their home but gets arrested.
Six years later, Rambabu, Jyothi, Anju, and Anu are living semi-normally. After selling some land, Rambabu now owns a movie theatre and is producing a film of his own with renowned screenwriter Vinaya Chandra. Anju suffers from
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...
and
seizures
A seizure is a sudden, brief disruption of brain activity caused by abnormal, excessive, or synchronous neuronal firing. Depending on the regions of the brain involved, seizures can lead to changes in movement, sensation, behavior, awareness, o ...
from her experience with the police. Jealous of Rambabu's wealth, the rest of the village claims Anju led Varun on and gossips about Rambabu and his family. Feeling isolated from the rest of her family, Jyothi forms a sister-like bond with her new neighbor Saritha, a government clerk, who is often abused by her alcoholic husband Sanjay, a real estate broker.
On the anniversary of Varun's death, Prabhakar, Varun's father, begs Rambabu to give him his son's remains to conduct the final rites to console Geetha, but Rambabu refuses, enraging her. Meanwhile, Anu comes home over break and invites her friends for a sleepover despite Jyothi's objections. With Rambabu remaining aloof to her concerns, Jyothi spends more time with Saritha and inadvertently discloses that Anju killed Varun. Unbeknownst to her, Sanjay and Saritha are undercover cops assigned by Geetha's friend IGP N. Gowtham Sahu, who wants to avenge Geetha and the embarrassment the case gave the police, and they had bugged the house. Meanwhile, Janardhan is released from prison and sets out to earn for and restore relations with his estranged wife. After learning about Rambabu's case and a potential reward, he goes to Gowtham to get the money, which Geetha and Prabhakar give him. Janardhan divulges what he saw, leading to the authorities excavating the station floor and discovering a skeleton. Rambabu, seeing this through
CCTV cameras
A closed-circuit television camera is a type of surveillance camera that transmits video signals to a specific set of monitors or video recording devices, rather than broadcasting the video over public airwaves. The term "closed-circuit televisi ...
he had installed around the station, prepares for the worst.
Gowtham, Geetha, and Prabhakar summon Rambabu's family for more questioning, but they maintain their alibi. However, Geetha plays a recording of Jyothi's confession to Sarita, defeating them. An enraged Geetha probes Anju about the case and triggers her fits. Desperate, Rambabu falsely confesses to Gowtham that he murdered Varun. With the police satisfied, the family is released, but Gowtham plots to trap them all later. The next day, the police formally arrest Rambabu and place him on trial for Varun's murder. Having learned about this, Chandra goes to Gowtham, Geetha, and Prabhakar and reveals Rambabu had written a movie script loosely based on the case and then published it as a novel under Chandra's name, titled ''Drushyam'', to give the story copyright protection. Rambabu pleads not guilty and claims that the police used scenes from ''Drushyam'' as the basis of a forced confession, making them realize it was part of his scheme. Furthermore, the DNA tests reveal that the body isn't Varun's, to everyone's shock. Chandra reveals that Rambabu had created a different climax for his film: knowing his initial plan might fail, the hero immediately procures the remains of another young man who died of similar injuries by befriending the undertaker of the cemetery where the other body is buried. He keeps those remains for three years before befriending a security guard at the local morgue by promising him a role in the film. The night after the original body arrives at the morgue, the hero switches them before DNA samples are collected and burns the original body in secret.
Rambabu is released on bail due to lack of evidence and the police are temporarily prohibited from bothering the family. The judge calls Gowtham to his chambers and tells him to stop pursuing the case, disclosing that unsolved cases "are not new to the system". Outside the courthouse, Chandra narrates the end of Rambabu's alternate climax to Geetha and Prabhakar - the hero would discreetly transfer the ashes to his bereaved parents and live with his sins. Simultaneously, Rambabu sends Varun's ashes anonymously to Geetha and Prabhakar with a message requesting they stop hounding his family. As Varun's father conducts the last rite, Gowtham convinces Geetha to let go of her enmity, concluding that they will never win as Rambabu will do anything to protect his family. Gowtham also states that Rambabu's ''life'' is punishment - he has to live in fear and always be prepared to evade the justice system. Rambabu, who was watching the proceedings from afar, solemnly leaves.
Cast
*
Venkatesh as Rambabu, a movie theatre owner and aspiring film producer
*
Meena
Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a
Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...
as Jyothi, Rambabu's wife; Anju's and Anu's mother; a homemaker
*
Nadhiya as Geetha Prabhakar - Varun's mother; former
Inspector General of Police
An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...
*
Kruthika as Anju, Rambabu and Jyoti's college-going elder daughter
*
Esther Anil
Esther Anil (born 27 August 2001) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Malayalam films, in addition to few Telugu and Tamil films.
Career
She debuted as a child artist in a Malayalam film '' Nallavan'' in 2010. She is best known for h ...
as Anu, Rambabu and Jyoti's school-going younger daughter
*
Sampath Raj
Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films.
He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
as N. Goutham Sahu IPS -
Inspector General of Police
An inspector-general of police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most ...
; Geetha's friend
*
Naresh as Prabhakar – Varun's father; Geetha's husband
*
Poorna as Advocate Renuka – a defense lawyer appearing for Rambabu
*
Vinay Varma
Vinay Varma is an Indian actor, script writer, and casting director who primarily works in Telugu and Hindi-language films.
Career
Vinay Varma, founder of Sutradhar, started out as an amateur theatre practitioner. He has been involved with ...
as J. Prathap – Circle Inspector of Police; member of Goutham's Investigation Team
*
Suja Varunee
Suja Varunee is an Indian former actress who has appeared in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam language films. She is the winner of ''BB Jodigal (season 2)''.
Career
Aged fourteen, Suja was selected to portray the leading role in the comi ...
as Saritha – Rambabu's neighbour; an undercover cop; member of Goutham's Investigation Team
*
Satyam Rajesh
Rajesh Babu, better known as Satyam Rajesh, is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Telugu films. He has worked in more than 350 films. Rajesh got the moniker 'Satyam' following his appearance in the 2003 film of the same name.
Early lif ...
as Sanjay – Rambabu's neighbour, Saritha's husband; an undercover cop; member of Goutham's Investigation Team
*
Tanikella Bharani
Tanikella Bharani (born 14 July 1954) is an Indian actor, screenwriter, poet and playwright who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He has worked as an actor in more than 750 films, including few in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi; while he was al ...
as Vinay Chandra – a famous screenwriter
*
Shafi
The Shafi'i school or Shafi'i Madhhab () or Shafi'i is one of the four major schools of fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It was founded by the Muslim scholar, jurist, and traditionist ...
as Janardhan, an ex-convict sentenced for homicide
* Sirisha as Latha, Janardhan's wife
*
Thagubothu Ramesh
Ramilla Ramesh, better known as Thagubothu Ramesh, is an Indian actor and comedian known for his work in Telugu cinema. Known for his signature portrayal of inebriated characters, he earned the nickname "Thagubothu" () due to his memorable per ...
as an auto driver
*
Chammak Chandra as Raju - a watchman
*
Annapoorna as Jyothi's mother
* Chalaki Chanti as an auto driver
*
Venu Yeldandi
Venu Yeldandi, is an Indian actor and director who works in Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu languag ...
as an auto driver
* Avinash as an auto driver
* Bharat Behera as an auto driver
* Naidu Gopi as Hotel Babai
*
Raja Ravindra
Raja Ravindra is an Indian actor predominantly appears in Telugu films and television serials. Apart from Telugu films, he has acted in several Tamil films and a few Kannada movies. He started his career with TV serials and entered into films.
...
as
DYSP
*
Tammareddy Bharadwaja
Tammreddy Bharadwaja is an Indian film director and producer known for his work in Telugu cinema. Over his career, Bharadwaja directed more than 20 films and produced around 15 films. He also served as the president of the Telugu Film Chamber o ...
as
DGP
* Sammeta Gandhi as Peter – A gravedigger whom Rambabu befriends
* Adam Ayub as Judge of District Court
*
C. V. L. Narasimha Rao as Advocate Janardhan – The
public prosecutor
A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in civil law. The prosecution is the legal party responsible ...
appearing for police
*
Gautham Raju
Gautham Raju is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Telugu films. He acted in more than 200 films. He got No Nandi Awards as a Best Male Comedian. He also received Rajababu award.
Early and personal life
Gautham Raju was born in Rajolu ...
as Somaraju
*
Rajashree Nair as Doctor
Production
Following the success of ''
Drishyam 2
''Drishyam 2: The Resumption'', or simply ''Drishyam 2'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Aashirvad Cinemas. A sequ ...
'' in February 2021, director
Jeethu Joseph
Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also worked in a few Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu Cinema, Telugu films. Jeethu made his d ...
announced its Telugu remake, serving as the sequel to ''
Drushyam'' (2014) which would be directed by himself. The film was formally launched on 1 March 2021 with a
puja ceremony in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The film was jointly produced by
D. Suresh Babu under
Suresh Productions
Suresh Productions (also known as Suresh Movies, Vijaya Suresh Combines) is an Cinema of India, Indian film production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company known for its works in Telugu cinema. It is established in 19 ...
,
Antony Perumbavoor and Jacob K. Babu under Max Movies, and
Rajkumar Sethupathi
Rajkumar Sethupathy is an Indian actor who acts predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in 50 movies in both Malayalam and Tamil films. He started his film career in the Tamil film ''Soolam'', directed by M. Bhaskar, then with ...
under Rajkumar Theatres.
Venkatesh,
Meena
Meena () is a tribe from northern and western India which is sometimes considered a sub-group of the Bhil community. It used to be claimed they speak Mina language, a
Spurious languages, spurious language. Its name is also transliterated as ' ...
,
Nadhiya,
Naresh,
Kruthika Jayakumar, and
Esther Anil
Esther Anil (born 27 August 2001) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Malayalam films, in addition to few Telugu and Tamil films.
Career
She debuted as a child artist in a Malayalam film '' Nallavan'' in 2010. She is best known for h ...
were confirmed to reprise their roles from ''Drushyam''.
Poorna was cast in an undisclosed role.
Sampath Raj
Sampath Raj (born 25 December 1968) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Tamil and Telugu films, in addition to Kannada and Malayalam films.
He is best known for his appearances in director Venkat Prabhu's trilogy, which includ ...
played the role of the IPS officer which was portrayed by
Murali Gopy
Muralikrishnan Gopynathan Nair, professionally credited as Murali Gopy, is an Indian actor, screenwriter, playback singer, lyricist, journalist, author, and music composer who works in Malayalam films. He has written films such as '' Ee Aduth ...
in ''Drishyam 2''.
Principal photography of the film commenced on 5 March 2021 in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
with Venkatesh on the sets.
Meena joined the production on 16 March. The final shooting schedule took place in
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
. Principal photography
wrapped in April 2021, after 50 days of shoot.
The cinematography was by
Satheesh Kurup.
Music
Anup Rubens
Anup Rubens, born Enoch Rubens, is an Indian music composer and singer who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. He has received a Filmfare Award, a Nandhi Award, GAMA Awards and a ...
composed songs and film score for the film. The music album consists of only one song title
"Inka Ennaallu" were penned by
Chandrabose and sung by
Shreya Ghoshal
Shreya Ghoshal (; born 12 March 1984) is an Indian singer. Noted for her wide vocal range and versatility, she is one of the most prolific and influential singers of India. Often referred to as the "Queen of Dynamics'' for her remarkable voc ...
and released on 22 November 2021 by
Suresh Productions Music.
Release
In May 2021, owing to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, the makers planned a direct
OTT release for the film just like the original Malayalam film ''
Drishyam 2
''Drishyam 2: The Resumption'', or simply ''Drishyam 2'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor under the banner of Aashirvad Cinemas. A sequ ...
''. It was finally premiered on
Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
on 25 November 2021.
Reception
Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of ''
The Hindu
''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It was founded as a weekly publication in 1878 by the Triplicane Six, becoming a daily in 1889. It is one of the India ...
'' praised Jeetu's work and also the actors' work by stating: "With the remake remaining unflinchingly loyal to the original, the onus to make it worthwhile for those who know the story, falls on the shoulders of the actors." Writing for ''Koimoi'', Shubam Kulkarni gave a mixed review by stating that "Don’t take me as a hater of remakes. There are amazing ones out there. But a point to point copy of a movie in an era where people are fast adapting to subtitles makes no sense to me". Neeshita Nyayapati of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' gave a rating of 3.5 out of 5 and cited as a "worthy sequel" to a "stellar film". She further praised film's direction, acting by the ensemble cast, cinematography, screenplay and the film score.
References
External links
*
{{Jeethu Joseph
2020s Telugu-language films
2021 crime thriller films
2021 films
Aashirvad Cinemas films
Amazon Prime Video original films
Fictional portrayals of the Andhra Pradesh Police
Films about families
Films not released in theaters due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Films set in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Andhra Pradesh
Films shot in Hyderabad, India
Indian sequel films
Indian crime thriller films
Suresh Productions films
Telugu remakes of Malayalam films
Works about unsolved crimes
Works about epilepsy
Films scored by Anoop Rubens