Having seen the original Drishyam in Malayalam and its near faithful and yet powerful remake Papanasam in Tamil, I found Nishikant Kamat's version in Hindi going by the same name as the Malayalam original a tad lacklustre.The Goan setting is fine and the story is quite faithfully adhered to here barring a few scenes fleshed out to add a bollywood glamour to the proceedings.
Ajay Devgan who has given fare more simmering and sensitive performances (Zakhm, HDDCS..etc)is a good choice but i would have loved someone like Aamir Khan or Anil Kapoor do this role.As his wife, Shriya Sharan looks woefully out of place with her low curt back blouses and make up.Meena was far superlative in the original scoring with out even having to try.The kids playing the daughters are well chosen and enact with sincerity their respective parts while the cruel corrupt cop Gaitonde who has a special score to settle with our leading man is quite a revelation.
The film's best performances come from the ever dependable Tabu and Rajat Kapoor.Tabu gets an unwanted tough as nails cop entry scene pre intermission and the story catches vigor,zest and pace after her dramatic entry.Rajat Kapoor is wonderfully underplayed.Tabu nails her moments as the fuming tigress waiting to solve the puzzle as much as she shows her grief as a mother trying to find her lost son.It is this couple whom you ultimately end up sympathizing as such is the power of their acting on display.Bharadwaj's moody music( though not his best) and the eerie visuals adding sombre silences add the much needed gravitas.
Drishyam is an engaging psychological thriller and falls short of its predecessors.A good story and a water tight screenplay with superlative perforaces from Tabu and Rajat Kapoor make it a worthy one time watch.