Director Abhishek Pathak’s Ajay Devgn starrer Drishyam 2 has done extraordinarily well at the Indian box office, but it deserves applause for surpassing expectations abroad too. Released in three foreign countries, it racked up $2.32 million over the course of its first few days – putting him behind Indra Kumar’s Total Dhamaal ($3.41million). Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Gangubai Kathiawadi ($2.75million) and Rohit Shetty’s 2017 comedy caper Golmaal Again ( $3.17million), however, still rank higher than Drishyam 2 domestically; but the movie is doing remarkably well outside of India nonetheless!
But Devgn had an extended cameo in the Gangubai Kathiawadi. If you exclude that film, Drishyam 2 makes it to number four on this list. In fact, without considering any of his solo hero movies at all, Drishyam 2 would still rank at number two thanks to being sandwiched right next to Singham Returns – a cop-actioner he starred in alongside Ajay Devgan. The final three films in Devgn’s overseas opening weekend grosses consist of Raajneeti ($2.25 million), Bol Bachchan ($2.06 million) and Golmaal 3($3million).
One of the reasons why Drishyam 2 did so well at the box office is because it was a thriller – an experience for audiences who were looking for something different than an entertaining film. It is true that there have been plenty of popular Hindi movies recently, but few can compete with this one. In fact, this film was based off Jeethu Joseph’s 2021 Indian remake of his own story starring Mohanlal in the lead role; and after watching it, I couldn’t believe it wasn’t made in India all along!
