As Oscar Wilde said, “Imitation sure is the sincerest form of flattery.” In what happens to be a golden moment for Indian cinema, the Malayalam superhit crime-thriller, Drishyam, is set to get a Hollywood makeover. Production house Panorama Studios has partnered with Gulfstream Pictures and JOAT Films for the international remake of the movies “Drishyam 1 & 2“.

They have taken the rights from the original producers Aashirvad Cinemas. Kumar Mangat Pathak, Chairman and Managing Director, Panorama Studios confirmed that after South Korea and China, the movie will be recreated in English for Hollywood. “Our mission is to produce ‘Drishyam’ in 10 countries in the next three to five years,” he said. A Spanish-language version of the movie is also in the works. 

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From The Stakeholders

Producer Abhishek Pathak, who also directed the Bollywood version of “Drishyam 2″ said, “ We have received immense love from our Indian audiences, who have made the ‘Drishyam’ franchise a massive success. The strength of ‘Drishyam’ lies in its story, and we want it to be enjoyed by audiences globally.” 

“The film is a timeless thriller that has entranced audiences across the globe. We can’t wait to bring the movie to fans here in the U.S.,” Karz and Bindley of Gulfstream Pictures said in a joint statement. 

Jack Nguyen, founder of JOAT Films, described “Drishyam” as a unique yet enduring story. “The story has resonated with audiences worldwide as evidenced by the numerous remakes it has spawned. Gulfstream, Panorama and JOAT are excited to have the opportunity to present our take on this cleverly crafted thriller to audiences globally,” Nguyen said.

The OG Movie

The 2013 Malayalam crime thriller, revolved around Georgekutty (Mohanlal) and his family, who come under suspicion when Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG Geetha Prabhakar, goes missing. Written and directed by Jeethu Joseph, the movie had Meena, Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil in the lead roles.

The Bollywood adaptation of the movie starred Ajay Devgn, Tabu and Shriya Saran and gained massive popularity among Hindi-speaking audiences. In addition to being made in Korean, Spanish and English, the movie has been already remade in Mandarin (Chinese remake), Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Sinhala.

The Drishyam Franchise

When the Malayalam film was released in 2013, it was massively successful with other filmmakers vying for remake rights. In 2014, the film was remade in Kannada as Drishya and in Telugu as Drushyam with Ravichandran and Venkatesh in the lead roles, respectively.

Drishyam original malayalam movie remake hollywood south korean spanish indian cinema film panorama studios mohanlal ajay devgn bollywood

In 2015, it was remade in Tamil as Papanasam and in Hindi as Drishyam with Kamal Haasan and Ajay Devgn, respectively. It was remade in Sinhala as Dharmayuddhaya with Jackson Anthony in 2017 and as Sheep Without a Shepherd with Xiao Yang in Mandarin Chinese in 2019.

Released in 2021, Drishyam 2 was hailed as a worthy sequel to the 2013 film – a rarity. The film picked off where the former left off, with Mohanlal’s character Georgekutty and his family dealing with the aftermath of a crime. Its sequel was remade in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi as well.

An achievement of this feat is a first for an Indian film. We really look forward to watching the Hollywood, Korean, and Spanish adaptations, among others, of the brilliantly made movie Drishyam.