Who's Who in Drishyam 3: A Cast Guide
Who is in Drishyam 3? A cast guide built only from reported facts: the lead, the returning faces, the new ones, and the team behind the camera.
Drishyam 3: The Conclusion has crossed Rs 300 crore, and a lot of people are now asking who is who in the cast. Here is a guide built only from what has been reported, with no invented character details.
The lead
Ajay Devgn returns as Vijay Salgaonkar, the role at the heart of the franchise, according to ThePrint. The first film in the series was released on July 31, 2015, NDTV notes, and the sequel Drishyam 2 followed in 2022.
The returning faces
ThePrint lists Tabu, Shriya Saran, Rajat Kapoor, Ishita Dutta, Mrunal Jadhav and Kamlesh Sawant as returning alongside Devgn. Saurabh Shukla makes a brief appearance, reprising his role from the second film. We are not listing the characters they play beyond this, since the reports we reviewed do not spell them out.
The new faces
Prakash Raj and Jaideep Ahlawat are new to the franchise, according to the Indian Express. Ahlawat plays SP Crime Branch officer Rajveer Singh Tomar, who investigates Salgaonkar's case, per ThePrint. He came in after Akshaye Khanna, who was set to return, left the project. NDTV's reviewer wrote, "Come for Ajay Devgn, stay for Jaideep Ahlawat."
Behind the camera
The film is directed by Abhishek Pathak, who co-wrote it with Parveez Shaikh and Aamil Keeyan Khan. It is produced by Pathak, Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare and Kumar Mangat Pathak, and backed by Star Studio18 and Panorama Studios. NDTV points out that the story is credited to Pathak, not to Jeethu Joseph as in the first two films, and that unlike its predecessors the film is not narratively connected to its Malayalam counterpart.
The numbers behind the cast
NDTV, citing Sacnilk, reports an India net total of Rs 309 crore after 10 days, and Koimoi shows Rs 341.6 crore net after 16 days. ThePrint reports that it opened with Rs 66.75 crore net, the biggest opening of Devgn's career. That is the commercial context for a cast that has been getting more attention than usual.
How to read the cast list
Cast lists in the press are often compiled from trailers, posters and producer statements, and the order of names is not a billing order. ThePrint, NDTV and the Indian Express each name slightly different groups, which is why this guide credits each name to the outlet that reported it. If you want character names, the film's own credits are the safest source.
Quick facts
Release: Oct. 2 per most outlets. Language: Hindi. Director: Abhishek Pathak. Lead: Ajay Devgn. Replacement: Jaideep Ahlawat for Akshaye Khanna. Franchise start: July 31, 2015 per NDTV. Budget: not reported in the coverage we reviewed.
Why the ensemble works
Critics have pointed at the supporting cast. NDTV says Ahlawat adds weight and leaves an indelible impression. The Hindu has also published an interview with Pathak on crafting the Hindi original and its afterlife as internet memes, which shows how much of the franchise's reputation sits in its supporting players and its scenes.
What we could not confirm
We could not confirm the character names for most of the cast beyond Devgn and Ahlawat, and we have not guessed them. ThePrint gives a release date of Sept. 27, which conflicts with Oct. 2 elsewhere, and we use Oct. 2. We could not confirm the budget or the final box-office total, which is still changing.
Sources
*Cover photo: Verghese TK, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tabu_in_2024.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tabu_in_2024.jpg)* (CC BY-SA 4.0).*