Drishyam () is a 2013 Indian Malayalam-language crime thriller film written and directed by Jeethu Joseph. It stars Mohanlal and Meena, as well as Ansiba Hassan, Esther Anil, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Asha Sharath, Siddique, Roshan Basheer and Neeraj Madhav in supporting roles. The film was produced by Antony Perumbavoor for Aashirvad Cinemas. It is the first installment to the series followed by Drishyam 2. It follows the struggle of Georgekutty and his family, who come under suspicion when Varun Prabhakar, the son of the IG Geetha Prabhakar, goes missing.
The film began principal photography in the first week of October 2013 at Thodupuzha in Kerala, where the film was extensively shot. Filming was completed in 44 days which was originally scheduled for 52 days. The cinematography was done by Sujith Vaassudev and was edited by Ayoob Khan. The soundtrack of the film was composed by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas.
Released on 19 December 2013 in Kerala, Drishyam received widespread critical acclaim with critics praising the screenplay, the performances and direction. It was the first Malayalam film to collect 50 crore at the box office. The film grossed over 75 crore worldwide and ran for more than 150 days in theatres. It remained the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time until it was surpassed by Pulimurugan in 2016. It also became the longest-running film in the United Arab Emirates, running 125 days.
Drishyam won numerous accolades, including the Kerala State Film Award for Best Film with Popular Appeal and Aesthetic Value and the Filmfare Award for Best Film – Malayalam and screened at the 45th International Film Festival of India and the 8th Asian Film Festival.
It was remade into four other Indian languages: Drishya (2014) in Kannada, Drushyam (2014) in Telugu, Papanasam (2015) in Tamil and Drishyam (2015) in Hindi. It was also remade in Sinhala language as Dharmayuddhaya (2017) and in Chinese as Sheep Without a Shepherd (2019) thereby becoming the first Indian film to be remade in Mainland China. The Indonesian remake was announced in September 2021, making it the first Indian film to be remade in Indonesian. The Korean remake was announced in May 2023, first Indian film to be remade in Korean. A sequel Drishyam 2 was released in 2021.
Plot
Georgekutty is an orphan who had dropped out of school after his 4th standard. He is now a businessman running a cable television service in a rural area in Rajakkad. He is married to Rani and they have two daughters, Anju, a +2 student, and Anu, a student of 6th class. His only interest apart from his family is watching films. He spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office.
During a nature camp, Anju gets photographed in the bathroom by a hidden cell phone. The culprit Varun Prabhakar, is the son of IG Geetha. Varun is accidentally killed by Rani and Anju when he comes to blackmail them using the clip either any one of them should sleep with him or he will surely publish the clip through Internet. They hide his body in a compost pit, which is witnessed by Anu. Rani tells Georgekutty about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the law. He removes the broken cell phone and disposes of Varun's car, which is seen by a police constable, Sahadevan, who has a grudge against Georgekutty. Georgekutty takes his family on a trip to attend a religious retreat, watch a movie and eat at a restaurant. Geetha, realising that Varun has gone missing starts an investigation.
After a preliminary investigation, Geetha calls Georgekutty and his family for questioning. Georgekutty had predicted that this would happen and taught his family how to change their alibi at the time of murder. When questioned individually, they reply the same thing and they had also shown the bill of the restaurant, the movie's and bus journey's tickets as a proof of their alibi. Geetha questions the owners of the establishments they have been to and their statements prove Georgekutty's alibi. Geetha realises that on the day of the incident, Georgekutty had taken the tickets and the bill, made acquaintance with the owners and had gone for the trip with his family the next day, thus proving his alibi and making the owners unwittingly tell the lie.