Mohanlal's Drishyam films find a unique place in his prolific career. Here's why
Mohanlal came into the first Drishyam film of 2013 as an accomplished actor. The challenge was to create a hero that didn't exist before the franchise, and subsequently match the standard in the two sequels.
A familiar scene in the Drishyam films is one where Georgekutty simply sits and waits. No punchline. No heroic action. No dramatic background score to announce an imminent twist. But you realise the stillness is deceptive. He is planning a possible defence for the future long before his adversaries plot an attack.
For many actors, such quietness, heightened by an utter lack of heroic excesses, would seem an uncomfortable deal. For Mohanlal, it becomes a creative opportunity.
Over three Drishyam films now, Mohanlal has reversed the grammar of a typical thriller hero. He is just a middle-aged family man going about life quietly. Mohanlal as Georgekutty looks ordinary, tired even.
Yet, you realise he is calculating, you know every silence occupies a thought. He is the guy who listens more carefully than anyone in the room, measures every emotional reaction he notes, is constantly replaying timelines and perfecting the story he has constructed to protect his family.
Complete Actor: Drishyam films show why
The tension in the Drishyam films comes from watching intelligence operate invisibly, and it's what gives these films a unique place in Mohanlal's prolific resume. He is known as the Complete Actor, and the Drishyam trilogy underlines why (even if you debate that the just-released third film struggles to live up to the legacy of its two predecessors).
Mohanlal is known to create drama with only the minute shift in gaze, an almost undetectable pause before a dialogue, or a flicker of the eye. Georgekutty lets him use all his tools as an actor and more, to craft an unusual image. It is something Drishyam fans cherish.
Drishyam defines a need to achieve more
By 2013, when the first Drishyam was released, Mohanlal had already done enough and more to prove his stature as an actor and superstar. There was little he hadn't attained already, fitting into roles as per script and audience demand. He was already enjoying box office superstardom, and it was a matter of time that he would be honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, even as he regularly continued winning National Awards. Just a quick look at his filmography tells you of the sheer variety he brought to Malayalam cinema.
His tragic heroes ranged from the aspiring police officer whose life unravels under circumstances beyond his control in Kireedam (1989) to the lower-caste Kathakali artist dealing with unrequited love in Vanaprastham (1999) and the family man stricken by Alzheimer's disease in Thanmathra (2005).
He reimagined crime and the criminal with his distinct style, too – flawless as the death row convict in Sadayam (1992) after giving the screen gangster an iconic makeover with Rajavinte Makan, the 1986 film that catapulted him to superstardom. He would also successfully portray the gangster in Spadikam (1995) and, much later, Lucifer (2019). There were the comic turns, too, imagined with quirk – think Nadodikkattu (1987), Chithram (1988) or Manichitrathazhu (1993).
By 2013, he had also already made the larger-than-life hero an iconic figure with Devasuram (1993). Just as fans witnessed his histrionic depth much before Drishyam in Bharatam (1991), and in Hridayapoorvam last year before Drishyam 3 came along.
Drishyam saga had to match career peaks
There had been so many career peaks, writer-director Jeethu Joseph's challenge lay in serving the unprecedented Mohanlal role with Drishyam. And once the film released, Drishyam 2 and Drishyam 3 had to live up to the standard set.
Not many actors – including Mohanlal – can claim to have experienced a character like Georgekutty before Drishyam. On papeer, he is an ordinary cable operator who just wants to protect his family, and dreams of being a producer someday. His reality is quietly more complicated.
The art of being underestimated
The beauty of Georgekutty's mind lies in his art of using the position society gave him. He is an everyday guy.
But therein lies the catch. Few characters in Indian cinema have turned the act of being underestimated into an advantage – which is what keeps happening in the Drishyam films, as the police, despite suspicion, never really figure out Georgekutty's moves.
He has continued to get away with murder over three films (and possibly counting) so far, prompting the audience only to keep leaning closer on the edge of their seats.