The last few weeks have been really good for Bollywood. It all started off with the magical BAHUBALI, which, despite being a dubbed film, went onto register huge figures at the ticket windows all over. This box-office magic was continued by Salman Khan starrer BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN. This week sees the release of the whodunit mystery DRISHYAM. Will this film continue the magical 'vision' at the Box-Office windows, or will this film turn out to be a mere 'eye-wash'

There are two ways to approach Drishyam. One is the educated viewer, aware of the back stories and one who considers the requisites of a thriller narrative. The second is the casual viewer, who's there for an experience, impervious to what goes in to making that experience come true. In a sense these parallel approaches are applicable to all films, but they assume a larger importance with a film like Drishyam. One that's been made before, rather adeptly but might not have been watched by those considering it's reiteration with a new language, a new filmmaking crew and a new set of actors. Regardless of what approach you have, director Nishikant Kamat's Drishyam has one hell of a premise.

A remake is a double-edged sword- it gives you an opportunity to trim the excess fat from the original but at the same time, makes comparison inevitable. In case of Nishikant Kamath's Drishyam, the original (by the same name in Malayalam starring Mohanlal) was so critically acclaimed that it automatically raised ones expectations - ours too. So given the expectations we went with, we were a little underwhelmed. So here's a tip - don't let the original's reviews colour your expectations.

'Drishyam' reiterates the fact that when you have a gripping story, other things kind of fall in place, even if the film is somewhat at a disadvantage because of a fairly unsteady, under-confident execution. A fantastic story by Jeethu Joseph was earlier made in two other languages, Malayalam and Tamil. The story is about a school dropout, Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) who runs a cable video business in a small village in Goa and is quite content in life with wife Nandini (Shriya) and two daughters.

Some movies appear on our viewing doorstep carrying far too much baggage. Drishyam, for instance, is a Hindi remake of a Malayalam film of the same name made into several languages with leading men of exceptional pedigree, and which has also, I believe, stolen its set-up from a Japanese mystery thriller, The Devotion Of Suspect X. That's an awful lot of suitcases all right.

Remaking a thriller takes a lot of courage, especially when the original film is so well-known and those who have seen it, know the plot. However, Nishikant Kamat, known for making films like Mumbai Meri Jaan and Force deserves kudos for attempting to make a film, which has already been remade... twice! Drishyam revolves around Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn), a semi-literate but street-smart cable operator, who lives in Goa with his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) and his two daughters. Salgaonkar, who is such a film buff that he often relies on his cinematic knowledge to come up with solutions for problems, finds himself in the cross-hairs of IG Meera Deshmukh (Tabu), a tough cop whose son has gone missing.

'Drishyam' sets us up for a couple of welcome things: a plot which piques our curiosity, and a leading man retracting from the brink. An unwelcome intruder disrupts the placid progression of a man devoted to his family, leading to a shocking event. Will their life ever be the same again? Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) is a 'fourth class fail' self-made orphan who has climbed his way up to a modest little business of his own. He runs a cable outfit in a sleepy Goa village, with the help of a young assistant, and watches films with an obsessive passion, often spending nights in front a screen.

In a hilly town in Goa, cable company owner Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) lives with his wife Nandini (Shriya Saran) and two daughters. Vijay loves his family to the core and can do anything for them as long as it does not involve (too much) money. Salgaonkar stays away from his family on most nights. The phone's off the hook all night and there's no way for his family to reach Vijay if there's an emergency. No, there's no paramour here. Vijay's only liaison is with films. This 'IVth fail' orphan is loved by all the residents of the town, save a certain police officer Gaitonde (Kamlesh Sawant).

A crime has been committed, but for those who know what's happened, it doesn't really feel criminal. For those trying to prove it, there just isn't enough evidence. This is true for the story in as well as the story of Drishyam. Drishyam, a Hindi remake of Jeethu Joseph's Malayalam film, opens with a declaration that it is based on an original story by Joseph. This is clearly designed to make Ekta Kapoor and anyone who has read Keigo Higashino's The Devotion of Suspect X choke on their popcorn.

Regurgitating a tried & tested template of a successful Malayalam film, Drishyam becomes a gripping, layered watch in it's second half. Tabu is brilliant, & Rajat Kapoor complements her ably with a subtle act. A riveting sequence in 'Drishyam' reminds one of the (lost) brilliance of Nishikant Kamath; when the police use strong arm tactics & blatant intimidation on a family of four to make them confess; raw & harrowing, this scene stands out for it's impact in a barely above average narration.

Inspired by Japanese crime-writer, Keigo Higashino's novel The Devotion of Suspect X, Drishyam(translates as illusion) was originally adapted in Malayalam. That version went on to become a blockbuster, paving the way for copies. The latest is, Nishikant Kamat's Bollywood adaptation that has adequate promise. The story revolves around the fourth-standard school drop-out Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay) who lives in Goa with his wife Nandini(Shriya) and their two daughters. He is a movie buff who runs a cable-video business. Crazy about cinema; he laughs, cries, plots and plans or for that matter even allows films to dictate his sexual desire. All in all, Vijay has a blissed-out existence.

Drishyam, a thriller that eschews the standard trappings of the suspense genre, is replete with surprises. That, however, is true only if you haven't seen any of the four southern versions of the film, especially the recently released one in Tamil - Papanasam, starring Kamal Haasan in full flight. The narrative nub of the 2013 Malayalam mega hit - which stretches from the sudden flashpoint that triggers its key dramatic conflict all the way to the shocking final revelation - is intricate and taut. So in this faithful Hindi remake, there is little room for any major tweaking of the plot.

Stunning, gripping, edge-of-the-seat, shocking, engrossing... use any of these adjectives for this Ajay Devgn version of Drishyam, and you are spot on. There is just one caveat: DON'T compare it with the original in 2013 which had Mohan Lal. Director Nishikant Kamat's tale of a common man's dilemma, courage and deceit could suffer in comparison with the original by Jeethu Joseph, it is still one film that will reinstate your faith in the suspense genre. If Kahaani was the last memorable mainstream Hindi suspense thriller you watched, then Drishyam will be a grand new entry to that list.

A remake of the 2013 Malayalam release of the same name, Drishyam stars Ajay Devgn as Vijay a righteous family man living in Goa. Vijay runs a cable TV business and believes in always supporting the truth. His honest nature often gets him in trouble with a local cop for whom corruption is just a way of life. Shriya Saran plays his doting wife who has two daughters and is meek and timid by nature. Circumstances change against their family when Inspector General Meera Deshmukh's (Tabu) son Sam happens to meet Vijay's eldest daughter during a school picnic and things take turn for the bad. A freak accident involving him lands the family in a soup where Deshmukh and her army of cops are in a raging battle to convict Vijay and his family of being responsible for her sons mysterious disappearance.