DRISHYAM - Hindi Remake To Have Saif Ali Khan

It’s official that the Hindi remake of the astounding Malyalaam hit movie DRISHYAM will not be influenced by any threats and will be made in Bollywood by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.

Jeethu Joseph, the original director of the movie recently speaking to media affirmed, “DRISHYAM Hindi remake will proceed as planned though I won't be directing it. The rights have been bought by Viacom 18 Motion Pictures.” 

He added, “After lots of discussions and speculation the lead role played by Mohanlal in the original will neither be played by Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn but Saif Ali Khan has been confirmed for the role.” 

It may be noted that DRISHYAM has been remade into all three South Indian languages. While the Kannada and Telugu versions have already been released and proved a box office bonanza. The Tamil remake, PAPANASAM, which has South Superstar Kamal Haasan in the lead is being made. 

However, only the Hindi remake has been in a dock because Ekta Kapoor, head of Balaji Films, has been creating obstacles. According to Ekta Kapoor the plot of DRISHYAM is similar to the novel THE DEVOTION OF SUSPECT X, the rights, of which she has purchased and is making a Bollywood movie, which is being directed by Sujoy Ghosh, director of Vidya Balan’s hit film KAHAANI. 

Irked by the Hindi remake, Ekta Kapoor event sent a legal notice to Jeethu Joseph. Responding to the notice Jeethu Joseph said, “After Ekta’s legal team sent us the letter, I watched the Japanese film, Suspect X, which is an adaptation of the Japanese novel. There could be similarities between my film and that Japanese film, but my film is neither an adaptation nor a copy. The Japanese film is also about a murder mystery and hence the allegation. Similarities are quite common in the works of creators and that shouldn’t be made into an issue.”

DRISHYAM released in 2013 in Malayalam is regarded as the highest grossing film in the history of Malayalam cinema. The movie is the first Malayalam film to collect Rs 50 crore from its theatrical box office collections, remake rights, satellite and television rights within two months. It has won numerous accolades including the Kerala State Film Award for Best Popular Film and the Filmfare Award for Best Film - Malayalam.