Principalphotography commenced in October 2013 in Thodupuzha, where the film was extensively shot. The cinematography was handled by Sujith Vaassudev whilst the film was edited by Ayoob Khan. The soundtrack was composed by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas.
Georgekutty started out as an orphan who had dropped out of school after his 4th year. He is now a businessman running a cable television service in the village of Rajakkad. He is married to Rani and they have two daughters Anju and Anu. His only interest apart from his family is watching films, as he spends most of his time in front of the TV in his small office. Due to his knowledge of his films, he is respected by the locals.
During a nature camp, Anju gets photographed in the bathroom by a hidden cell phone held by Varun Prabhakar, who is the son of Inspector General of Police Geetha Prabhakar. Varun meets Anju and blackmails her to have sex with him. That same night, he arrives at their house, but Rani is informed by Anju and pleads Varun to leave Anju alone. He agrees on the condition that Rani have sex with him instead. In a successful attempt to destroy Varun's phone, Anja accidentally strikes Varun in the head, killing him. They bury his body in a compost pit, which is witnessed by Anu. Rani informs Georgekutty about the incident and he devises a way to save his family from the police. He removes the broken phone and disposes of Varun's car, which is seen by the local police constable Sahadevan, who hold a grudge against Georgekutty. As Georgekutty takes his family on a trip to attend a religious retreat, a movie and a restaurant, Geetha starts an investigation upon learning that Varun has gone missing.
After a preliminary investigation, Geetha calls Georgekutty and his family for questioning. Georgekutty had predicted that this would happen and taught his family how to change their alibi at the time of murder. When questioned individually, they reply the same thing and they had also shown the bill of the restaurant, the movie's and bus journey's tickets as a proof of their alibi. Geetha questions the owners of the establishments they have been to and their statements prove Georgekutty's alibi. However, Geetha realises that on the day of the incident, Georgekutty had taken the tickets and the bill, made acquaintance with the owners and had gone for the trip with his family the next day, thus proving his alibi and making the owners unwittingly tell the lie.
Georgekutty and his family are arrested and Sahadevan brutally tortures them, including Anu to make the truth come out. Geetha learns from Sam's friend Alex about the Anju's video created by Varun. Eventually, Anu gives in and reveals the place where the body is buried. After digging the compost pit, they find the carcass of a cow, indicating that Georgekutty had moved the body. Before Geetha and Sahadevan could react to it, Georgekutty and Anu goes to the media and complains of Sahadevan's torture against his family. Enraged, Sahadevan tries to attack the family again, but Rani's brother Rajesh and the villagers saves them and subdues Sahadevan, who later ends up being suspended while Geetha resigns from her post. Geetha and her husband Prabhakar meet Georgekutty to ask forgiveness for their rude and violent behavior, but Georgekutty suspects there might be foul play involved and still does not reveal directly about Varun's death. Georgekutty, now in remand, signs a register at the newly constructed local police station and leaves. As the police inspector tells him that he will find the body and that the police are not fools, Georgekutty replies by telling the officer he believes that the police are there to help the people.
In July 2013, it was reported that Jeethu Joseph will be directing a film titled My Family with Mohanlal in the lead.[10] In August 2013, Jeethu clarified that the film was titled Drishyam.[11] A thread similar to that of Drishyam has been with the director since the early 1990s. He was inspired by a conversation he had overheard about the plight of two families involved in a legal battle.[12] Jeethu had penned the story of Drishyam even before Memories (2013).[13] He says, "I started working on the subject some two years back. But I wanted to stick to the planned order and hence postponed the project till I finished Memories".[14] The script was initially planned to be filmed by another director but since that director could not find a producer, Jeethu took back the script and decided to direct it himself.[15] Drishyam contrasts from the director's previous films. He says, "Different films require different treatment. I toiled hard while filming Memories as the film was full of twists and turns and the handling of the subject mattered a lot. But Drishyam is a complete script-oriented film that does not require any special effort. We shot the film sticking completely to the script, and the shooting was completed effortlessly."[16]
Jeethu had initially approached Mammootty to play the lead, but he was unable to commit and asked Jeethu to proceed with the film with another actor.[17] According to the director, Mammootty was instrumental in casting actress Meena for the film.[12] The director, in an interview with The New Indian Express, stated that he wrote the screenplay with Mohanlal in mind and that the character was tailor-made for Mohanlal.[16] He later added that no changes were made in the script when Mohanlal agreed.[18]
Kalabhavan Shajohn, who previously worked in the industry as a comedian and the sidekick of the lead actors, was chosen for the main antagonistic role. The director stated, "I had two-three actors in mind, but at last decided to pick Shajon. I was very clear that I did not want anyone who has played negative characters so far to do the role. Shajon was a total revelation."[12] Roshan Basheer, who debuted through Plus Two (2010), was chosen after conducting a screen test.[19] Asha Sarath was later signed for the role of a police officer.[20] Child actors Ansiba Hassan and Esther Anil, along with Siddique, Irshad, Kunchan and Koottickal Jayachandran were also cast to play major supporting roles.[16]
Drishyam commenced principal photography in the first week of October 2013. Mohanlal joined the sets only from 10 October.[21] The film was shot at Thodupuzha in Kerala.[16] The road-side house shown in the film, which was a major location, is situated at Vazhithala, near Thodupuzha.[22] The shooting had to be halted for a while as Meena fainted on the location.[23] Drishyam was initially planned to be filmed in 52 days, though it was completed in 44 days.[12]
A reviewer from The Hindu noted, "The film takes off as a typical family drama. The first half of the film is intentionally slow-paced and shows to the audience the lighter moments in the family of Georgekutty. This half combines the elements of drama and comedy genres. The audience gets completely absorbed in the twist of events that begin to unfold from the end of the first half. The second half is more like a thriller and is about how the family, despite the vengeful villainy of a corrupt cop, stands its ground even as the law takes its course."[24] When asked whether this change in narrative style post-interval was intentional, Jeethu replied: "I really don't understand when people say the first half lacked pace. A story or a film has its own way of progression and it does travel in a zig-zag away, capturing all the ups and downs of our lives. Right from the start if you accelerate the pace, sooner or later, the story-telling will lose its steam."[12]
The film has also been said to be inspired by The Devotion of Suspect X, a Japanese novel written by Keigo Higashino. Ekta Kapoor, who had purchased the Hindi movie rights of the novel, sent a legal notice to the makers of the film. However, the director clarified, "After Ekta's legal team sent us the letter, I watched the Japanese film, Suspect X, which is an adaptation of the Japanese novel. There could be similarities between my film and that Japanese film, but my film is neither an adaptation nor a copy. The Japanese film is also about a murder cover-up and hence the allegation. Similarities are quite common in the works of creators and that shouldn't be made into an issue."[26] Rashomon (1950) was also cited as an inspiration for the film.[27]
The film was criticised for the use of some "sexist dialogues" in the first half which were playing to a certain "new generation" audience. Sowmya Rajendran of Sify criticised the same and stated about one of such scenes in the film, "it is such banter, which we often dismiss with a laugh, that helps perpetuate rape culture."[28] When asked about this, the director replied, "I firmly believe such conversations are part of our lives. I don't want to elaborate, but it also throws an insight into each character featured in the sequences. Yes, frankly, I was a bit worried how the family audience would react to those scenes. But then I read out that part of the script to a select group of women and they nodded their heads in approval."[12]
There were also allegations that Drishyam might provoke murder. Kerala ADGP T.P.Senkumar IPS claimed that two people accused of murdering a woman from Nilambur in February 2014 admitted that their methods for disposing of the victim's body and mobile phone SIM card were influenced by the film.[29] The murder of a young girl in Irinjalakuda by her father and his mistress was also said to be influenced by Drishyam.[30]
Drishyam's soundtrack album features two songs used in the film, each of them were composed by Anil Johnson and Vinu Thomas, with lyrics penned by Santhosh Varma; the former provided the background score for the film. The album was released on 25 November 2013 by Muzik 247.[31]
Veeyen of NowRunning noted in his review of the film that the songs "have a refreshingly delightful tenor to them that deserve an applause for certain."[32] The reviewer of IndiaGlitz called the score "refreshing" and stated that it "builds the tempo" for the film.[33]
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