Director Jeethu Joseph, who shot to national fame with the Mohanlal-starrer Drishyam, is on a roll. Amazon Prime Video, a popular Over-the-Top platform is just hours away from releasing Drishyam 2, but away from the hype and hoopla, the film’s director Jeethu is busy scouting locations in Telangana, gearing up to shoot Drishyam 2 in Telugu with Venkatesh in the lead.
Released in 2014, the Telugu remake of Drishyam—titled Drushyam —was directed by Sripriya, but this time, the sequel will be directed by Jeethu himself.
A reliable source tells us that Jeethu landed in Hyderabad two days ago and had been in talks with multiple people involved. It’s also learnt that the film’s shoot could happen as early as March first week.
“Everything happened in a flash. If things go as planned, the shoot of Drushyam 2 will begin in March first week with all COVID-19 protocol in place. Every logistical part is being fast-tracked so that film could be wrapped up as early as possible,” said the source.
Drushyam had Meena and Esther Anil from the original cast of Drishyam. Nadhiya played the role of the police officer whose son is murdered by Rambabu's (Venkatesh) daughter. The film ended with the big reveal — where Rambabu hid the body.
In the sequel of Drishyam 2, the promos suggest that the body is discovered and the hero’s family is under suspicion again. It’s likely that the Telugu remake will closely follow the original.
Mohanlal won critical acclaim for his performance as a protective father who will go to any lengths to save his family. Drishyam was one of Malayalam cinema's biggest hits and was remade in several languages, including Sinhalese and Mandarin. In Tamil, it was titled Paapanasam and had Kamal Haasan in the lead role. In Kannada, it was called Drishya and had V Ravichandran in the lead.
(The article was first published in The News Minute and has been republished with permission).
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