Apr 14, 2026 3:59pm IST
Hype Strategy for Mohanlal’s ‘Drishyam 3’ Fails as ‘Drishyam 2’ Re-Release Tanks at the Box Office
Mohanlal’s highly anticipated thriller “Drishyam 3” is set to hit the screens on May 21. To build momentum, the makers re-released the second part of the franchise in the theaters. Surprisingly, “Drishyam 2” met with a cold response and raked in merely ₹5 lakh across the state of Kerala, failing to recover even the basic operational costs and theater rentals.
Despite its status as an OTT sensation, “Drishyam 2” struggled at the box office, highlighting a disconnect between digital popularity and ticket sales.
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Highlighting the value of the “Drishyam” franchise, the first part, released in 2013, grossed over 63 crore on a modest 5-crore budget. It became the first Malayalam film to cross the 50-crore mark and was the industry's top-grosser until 2016, when another Mohanlal-starrer, “Pulimurugan,” surpassed it.
Apart from its 150-day run in Kerala, “Drishyam” also enjoyed a phenomenal 125 days in the UAE.
However, the sequel had to follow a different path in 2021 due to the COVID wave, as “Drishyam 2” opted for a direct OTT release and premiered on Amazon Prime Video.
While the film’s re-release has been disappointing, expectations are sky-high for “Drishyam 3.”
Written and directed by Jeethu Joseph, the film will see Meena, Ansiba Hassan, and Esther Anil reprising their roles. It was originally scheduled to be released on April 2, but due to the West Asia crisis, it was postponed to May 1.
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