--- title: "Drishyam" year: 2015 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/drishyam" fi1m_id: "drishyam" imdb_id: "tt4430212" tmdb_id: 352173 wikidata_id: "Q19824636" fi1m_score: 74 critics_reviews: 3 published: "2026-09-15" updated: "2026-09-20T21:12:42.344343+00:00" region: "RO" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Drishyam (2015) Directed by Nishikant Kamat · 2h 43m · Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Crime ## Identity Drishyam - **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/drishyam - **Type:** Film - **Fi1m ID:** drishyam - **IMDb ID:** tt4430212 - **TMDB ID:** 352173 - **Wikidata ID:** Q19824636 - **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4430212/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/352173, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q19824636 **Fi1m score: 74** · Critics: 3 of 6 reviews so far *In a sentence:* By the time this family has its story straight, we have started making excuses for them > Ajay Devgn and Tabu keep *Drishyam* tense even when its careful plotting takes too long. We recommend this family thriller for the alibi-building and the uncomfortable business of finding ourselves on the side of a cover-up. ## Synopsis Vijay Salgaonkar (Ajay Devgn) and his family in Goa become caught in a cover-up that puts them under police scrutiny. As Vijay works to construct an alibi, IG Meera Deshmukh (Tabu) pursues the investigation, testing the family’s account of events. Shriya Saran plays Nandini Salgaonkar, with Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav as Anju and Anu Salgaonkar. Rajat Kapoor plays Mahesh Deshmukh, while Kamlesh Sawant appears as sub-inspector Laxmikant Gaitonde. The story follows the family’s efforts to withstand questioning as the police try to establish what happened. ## Review Nishikant Kamat’s *Drishyam* is a good thriller with more patience than it needs. Its appeal lies in watching a family try to keep a cover-up intact while the police press for answers, and in discovering how readily we want that family to succeed. Kamat takes the mechanics of an alibi seriously, giving the planning enough weight to make us follow it. At 163 minutes, he also gives us more time than we need to appreciate the care involved. Working from a story by Jeethu Joseph, screenwriter Upendra Sidhaye makes the construction of an alibi absorbing in itself. Vijay’s problem requires practical thought, and the film lets that thought become the source of suspense. We were tense watching him work out his account, because every careful decision made us more invested in the cover-up. That response gives the questions about justice some force: we are already hoping the investigation will fail. Ajay Devgn’s restraint is important here. As Vijay Salgaonkar, he makes the effort of keeping control worth watching without asking us to applaud every calculation. A more showy performance would make the plotting feel like a demonstration by someone who already knows all the answers. Devgn keeps enough uncertainty in the work to make the family’s predicament matter alongside our curiosity about how the scheme operates. Tabu gives IG Meera Deshmukh enough determination to make that uncertainty credible. Her investigation supplies pressure that the film needs whenever Vijay’s ingenuity threatens to make the contest too comfortable. The interrogation scenes are compelling because a carefully prepared account still has to survive another person’s questions. Tabu helps the police remain a serious obstacle, though the writing sometimes makes its points about justice and corruption too simply. Avinash Arun’s cinematography makes the alibi-building easy to follow, leaving us free to consider what Vijay is doing. Sukant Panigrahy’s production design gives the middle-class family a convincing everyday setting. That ordinariness helps: these people need to seem capable of having a life outside the investigation if their predicament is to concern us. The craft supports the sober treatment without making the surroundings a competing attraction. The pace is harder to defend. Editor Aarif Sheikh allows the plotting room to register, but too much of that room becomes waiting, and Kamat does not always distinguish useful preparation from delay. The music credited to Sameer Phaterpekar and Vishal Bhardwaj supplies tension that the alibi scenes scarcely need. We would have welcomed less prompting and a firmer cut, particularly when the mechanics are already clear. As a crime thriller, *Drishyam* earns its interest in guilt by making us take sides. Its weaker passages treat the moral questions more simply than the plotting, as if getting us worried about the family were enough to settle the wider concerns about policing. It isn’t, and the strong performances cannot quite disguise that shortcut. The film is more persuasive when it trusts us to worry about the next question. The length is a real qualification to our recommendation, especially for anyone who prefers a brisk police procedural. There is enough ingenuity here to reward sustained attention, and Devgn and Tabu make the central contest worth following. We would choose it for an evening when we want to puzzle over other people’s decisions. Allow time afterwards to ask why we were so keen for them to get away with it. *Fi1m score 74, published 15 September 2026.* ## Straight answers **Is Drishyam worth watching?** *Drishyam* is worth watching for anyone who enjoys following a family build an alibi under police questioning, and we scored it 74. Ajay Devgn and Tabu keep the contest tense, though at 163 minutes the careful plotting takes longer than it needs. Viewers who prefer a brisk police procedural should be warned about the length. **How long is Drishyam, and what is it rated?** *Drishyam* runs 2h 43m. It is a mystery and thriller film. **Where can I watch Drishyam in Romania?** *Drishyam* is not on any streaming or rental service in Romania at the moment. It is available in 30 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily. **How violent or frightening is Drishyam, and is it suitable for children?** *Drishyam* carries a UK 12A certificate and is a crime thriller about a cover-up and a police investigation rather than a violent or frightening film. The tension comes from interrogation scenes and the family's efforts to keep their story straight, not from graphic content. Older children and teenagers should manage it, though the length and the sober treatment may test younger viewers. **How does Drishyam compare to A Separation?** *Drishyam* and [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) both make it hard to judge a family's account of events once we have started sympathising with them, but they work differently. Kamat's film is a thriller built around the mechanics of an alibi, while Farhadi's is a drama that stays fair to everyone behaving badly. *A Separation* is the stronger and more upsetting film; *Drishyam* suits an evening of puzzling over a cover-up. **What should I watch after Drishyam?** After *Drishyam*, try [*A Separation*](https://film.one/film/a-separation) (2011, Fi1m 93): Another family dispute in which sympathy makes judging the facts difficult. Then [*The Secret in Their Eyes*](https://film.one/film/the-secret-in-their-eyes) (2009, Fi1m 78): A patient investigation with personal loyalties complicating the pursuit of justice; and [*The Wrong Man*](https://film.one/film/the-wrong-man) (1956, Fi1m 83): For the fear of facing police who have already decided what happened. ### Reviews we read (3) - **The Guardian** (70/100, inferred): This Hindi remake of the Malayalam thriller is overlong yet still deftly satisfying as a twisty morality play about a family covering up a killing. The critic praises the meticulous plotting and satisfying thriller mechanics while noting the brisker, darker tone and conflicted sympathies created by the casting. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/aug/03/drishyam-review-remake-ajay-devgn-shriya-saran) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Lisa Tsering (70/100, inferred): The critic finds it an elegant Indian thriller with restrained performances. She singles out the clever scenes of the protagonist crafting an alibi and the strong work by Tabu as the determined police inspector. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/drishyam-film-review-812534/) - **Time Out**, Anil Sinanan (3/5): The critic describes it as a sober account of a middle-class Goan family's cover-up of a manslaughter and their subsequent interrogation by local police, highlighting issues of justice and corruption in India. It is redeemed by strong performances from the cast, particularly Ajay Devgn and Tabu, though noted as overlong and sometimes simplistic. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/drishyam) ## Details - **Director:** Nishikant Kamat - **Director:** Nishikant Kamat - **Screenplay:** Upendra Sidhaye - **Story:** Jeethu Joseph - **Cinematography:** Avinash Arun - **Editor:** Aarif Sheikh - **Music:** Sameer Phaterpekar, Vishal Bhardwaj - **Production design:** Sukant Panigrahy - **Costume design:** Kirti Kolwankar - **Producer:** Abhishek Pathak, Kumar Mangat Pathak, Sarita Patil - **Cast:** Ajay Devgn as Vijay Salgaonkar; Tabu as IG Meera Deshmukh; Shriya Saran as Nandini Salgaonkar; Ishita Dutta as Anju Salgaonkar; Mrunal Jadhav as Anu Salgaonkar; Rajat Kapoor as Mahesh Deshmukh; Kamlesh Sawant as Sub-inspector Laxmikant Gaitonde; Rishab Chadha as Sameer 'Sam' Deshmukh - **Runtime:** 2h 43m - **First release (KW):** 30 July 2015 - **Genres:** Mystery, Thriller, Drama, Crime - **Budget:** $5 million - **Box office:** $18 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtXlAVd-uBQ ## Where to watch in Romania Not streaming, renting or buying in Romania at the last check. Also available in: AT, AU, BE, BG, CA, CH, CZ, DK, EE, FI, GB, GR, HK, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, LT, MY, NO, NZ, PH, PL, PT, SE, SG, TH, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## If you liked this - *A Separation* (2011), Fi1m 93: Another family dispute in which sympathy makes judging the facts difficult. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-separation.md) - *The Secret in Their Eyes* (2009), Fi1m 78: A patient investigation with personal loyalties complicating the pursuit of justice. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-secret-in-their-eyes.md) - *The Wrong Man* (1956), Fi1m 83: For the fear of facing police who have already decided what happened. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-wrong-man.md) - *Mother* (2009): A family loyalty thriller that makes protective instinct increasingly difficult to excuse. - *A Simple Plan* (1998), Fi1m 86: Ordinary people discover how much work it takes to maintain a lie. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/a-simple-plan.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/drishyam