Jeethu Joseph is tired of making suspense thrillers like Drishyam: ‘Producers from other industries also expect it now’
Updated on: Aug 23, 2025 01:55 pm IST
Filmmaker Jeethu Joseph expressed frustration at a recent conclave that even when he goes to other film industries, they expect films like Drishyam.
Filmmaker Jeethu Joseph might have gained fame due to the suspense thriller Drishyam, starring Mohanlal, but he’s tired of making such films. At the Manorama News Conclave 2025, the director discussed the dominance of thrillers in Malayalam cinema with actors Asif Ali and Unnimaya Prasad.
Jeethu Joseph wants to try something different
When it was released in 2013, Drishyam broke records. It became the first film in Malayalam to cross the ₹50-crore mark at the box office. While talking about Drishyam 3, Jeethu stated that the film was not a thriller, but a ‘natural story’ that happens to Georgekutty’s family. He also said that he would not like to be boxed in anymore, even if his films don’t make him money.
“I’m tired of thrillers, I want to try something new, even if it fails. I’ve made light-hearted films like My Boss (2012) and Mummy & Me (2010), but once I made Drishyam, I was boxed in. Even producers from other industries expect it now. I wanted to do a mass film in Telugu, but they asked for a twist in the end. In Tamil, they expected logic,” said Jeethu, reinstating that Drishyam 3 will be his attempt at more.
About Jeethu Joseph
Jeethu debuted in 2007 with the police procedural film Detective, starring Suresh Gopi. After the success of Drishyam in Malayalam, he remade it in Tamil with Kamal Haasan as Papanasam in 2015. While the Telugu remake of the film, Drushyam, with Venkatesh in 2014, was directed by Sripriya, he shot the Malayalam and Telugu versions of the sequel simultaneously in 2021. The film was also remade in Hindi with Ajay Devgn in the lead.
The 2024 Basil Joseph and Grace Anthony-starrer Nunakkuzhi was his most recent film. Jeethu is currently working on Drishyam 3 and Ram: Part 1 with Mohanlal, Mirage with Asif Ali and Valathu Vashathe Kallan with Biju Menon.
