Sightlines · reception

How Drishyam was received

2013 · Jeethu Joseph · Drishyam on Sightlines

The arc

A record-shattering blockbuster on release — it became the first Malayalam film to cross ₹50 crore — and a decade on it's grown into the ur-text of the Indian thriller, spawning a hit sequel and remakes in a half-dozen languages.

What’s debated

The forever-debate is whether it owes too much to Keigo Higashino's novel 'The Devotion of Suspect X' — Jeethu Joseph has always insisted he never read it — closely followed by which remake, if any, tops the original.

Its footprint

Arguably India's most-remade modern film: Tamil (Papanasam, with Kamal Haasan), Hindi, Telugu, Kannada, Sinhala — and China's Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019), a massive hit that got its own sequel. Georgekutty, the movie-obsessed everyman, has become an archetype unto himself.

Where it stands

A gateway film for non-Indian audiences into Malayalam cinema and a fixture on Indian-thriller must-watch lists — the 'start here' recommendation.

Did you know? Its Chinese remake, Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019), was a huge box-office success in China — a rare case of an Indian regional film's story conquering the Chinese market secondhand.