With Drishyam: The Conclusion set to bring the Hindi franchise to its final chapter, director Abhishek Pathak says that in its last part the film is charting its own course rather than following the Malayalam franchise. At the same time, Pathak says the conclusion will bring the Salgaonkar story to a definitive close, even as some of its quirky characters could potentially have lives beyond the central narrative.

Addressing comparisons with Drishyam 3 from Malayalam cinema, Pathak stresses that the Hindi film is an entirely new story. “It's completely different. It's a new story. It's nothing to do with Malayalam. It's a very different film altogether,” he says, making it clear that the Hindi franchise is not looking to replicate the Malayalam narrative.

For Pathak, the third instalment also carries a sense of finality that is built into its title. Rather than keeping the door open simply because the franchise has a popular central character, the filmmaker says he wanted to give Vijay Salgaonkar's story the ending it deserves. “This is where I'm ending the film beautifully, where all the resolution comes to an end eventually,” he says.

That said, the world of Drishyam has accumulated several memorable characters over its three films, and Pathak acknowledges that some of them could lend themselves to stories of their own. One such character is Gaitonde, whose eccentric presence has made him a memorable part of the franchise. “There's obviously interesting characters which we have in the film. Gaitonde, for example, has been a quirky character throughout all the parts,” he says.

For now, however, Pathak appears focused on closing Vijay's story on his own terms. With the Hindi Drishyam universe taking a different route from its Malayalam counterpart, The Conclusion promises to be less about setting up what comes next and more about finally resolving what began with Vijay Salgaonkar's desperate attempt to protect his family.