Lengthy films are back; Drishyam is 2.39 minute thriller that won't be pruned down

31 Jul 2015

Filmmakers are no longer willing to abide by the multiplex schedules of no more than 2 hours of playing-time for each screen. It's known as the samosa-and-popcorn time scheme, as a longish interval is inserted into the 2-hour feature for the cafeteria at the multiplexes to flourish.

The two July blockbusters Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan , each with a playing-time of nearly 3 hours, have changed the rules. Now, a third July film Drishyam will surpass the 2-hour time-limit.

Producers Viacom 18 and director Nishikant Kamat are determined to keep intact the 2 hour 39 minute length of the eagerly-awaited thriller Drishyam, although by multiplex yardsticks, it is considered unfashionable for a film's running-time to go beyond two hours.

"But, I am fighting to retain every minute of my edited footage, because I feel every film has its own rhythm. We cannot hurry it.

Drishyam is not a routine thriller. It's a gripping story. But the pace is not of the normal thriller," says Kamat who earlier dabbled in the thriller format with anti-terrorism segmented saga Mumbai Meri Jaan and in the Telugu remake Force . He credits the original writer for giving Drishyam the kind of aura mood and pace never seen in a thriller. "What a fantastic script Jeethu Joseph has written. It was a script that needed no changes. Yet, I've retained only about 40 percent of the original. We didn't want to only echo the brilliance of the original. We wanted to create our own cadences." Kamat, who has largely directed adaptations (even his next release) and remakes, looks forward to doing an original soon. "I want to find a script that I'd interpret first."