Gandhi Jayanti is a day off, and Vijay Salgaonkar has picked a good day to come back.
Drishyam 3: The Conclusion hit theatres on October 2 with Ajay Devgn and Tabu leading the cast. Nobody expected it to open quietly.
The numbers everyone’s chasing
Koimoi put the opening at around Rs 45-50 crore net in India. If that holds, it’s Ajay Devgn’s biggest opening ever, ahead of Singham Again, which did 43.7 crore net.
Day 1 India net: Rs [insert confirmed figure] crore (I’ll update this once the official number comes in. Early figures often change by evening.)
A quick warning: some headlines are already announcing that it has crossed 50 crore. I couldn’t find that confirmed anywhere yet, so I’d wait for the final tally.
Why this opening makes sense
It comes down to three things.
First, the calendar. A national holiday and no big competitor means every show gets a fair shot at filling up.
Second, the trailer. People liked it, and the Ajay versus Jaideep Ahlawat angle got a lot of talk. Prakash Raj joining the cast didn’t hurt either.
Third, and probably the biggest factor, people just care about this family. The first Hindi Drishyam made only Rs 8.05 crore on its first day back in 2015. It grew through word of mouth, and now the franchise opens like a tentpole.
And the Malayalam version?
Mohanlal’s Drishyam 3 came out on May 21 and made around Rs 48 crore worldwide on day one, according to Sacnilk. That’s the second-best Malayalam opening ever, behind L2: Empuraan.
Koimoi says Ajay’s film only needs a gross above 43.7 crore to beat it, and that it should get there easily. Both films tell Jeethu Joseph’s story, but they take it in different directions, so comparing them isn’t entirely fair.
What happens next
A holiday opening is the easy part. The real test is Saturday and Sunday, when the holiday crowd is gone and word of mouth takes over. The Malayalam version had mixed reviews, so it’ll be interesting to see how the Hindi one lands.
I’ll be back with weekend numbers.