Drishyam caused a sensation when it came out in 2013. Jeethu Joseph’s Malayalam film was about the perfect cover-up of a righteous crime. The blockbuster, which borrowed its basic premise from Keigo Higashino’s brilliant novel The Devotion of Suspect X, spawned remakes in several languages.Drishyam stars Mohanlal, in one of his most acclaimed roles, as the rubber farmer Georgekutty. When Georgekutty’s older daughter Anju (Ansiba Hassan) and wife Rani (Meena) kill Anju’s tormentor Varun, the son of the Inspector General of Police Geetha (Asha Sarath), Georgekutty waddles to their defence.Georgekutty comes up with an unbreakable alibi. It’s so clever that it holds up even in Drishyam 2. Geetha and her husband Prabhakar (Siddique) are unable to locate their son’s body.Drishyam 3, which is out in cinemas this week, puts Georgekutty in a spot yet again.In a movie that could also be titled The Neverending Day of the Remains, Geetha and Prabhakar are still mourning their son. Georgekutty, a supposed exemplar of discretion, is rash enough to produce a movie adaptation of his experiences – not quite what you would expect from somebody who wants the world to forget what he has gone through.Georgekutty has always been quietly cocky. This time, he’s sloppy too. Anxious about finding the right match for Anju, which is a problem given the scandal that clings to the family, Georgekutty seems unaware that the net might be closing in on him.Drishyam 3 (2026). Courtesy Aashirvad Cinemas.Jeethu Joseph’s slow-burning storytelling style means that Drishyam 3 drags on for 159 minutes, with the best bits all tucked into the final half hour. If moviegoers can exercise the option of entering a theatre after the interval, they should – they would not have missed anything.Every new or secondary character is a means to an end – the journalist digging up dirt on the case, the therapist who counsels Anju, the former cops still annoyed that Georgekutty got away. Joseph continues to find ingenious ways to give Georgekutty the upper hand, but he could have done this in a much shorter time, and without foisting ordinary actors in bad wigs on viewers.The Drishyam films spin on their own version of devotion. Georgekutty insists that everything he does is out of love and concern for Anju, Rani, Anju and the younger daughter Anu (Esther Anil). They are portrayed as utterly dependent on Georgekutty, sheep-like in their obedience. Yet, the events in Drishyam 3 raise doubts about whether their best interests are being served by their shepherd.Despite having the money and means to leave town, Georgekutty stays put – and constantly imperils his family, especially Anju. No fearsome hound or CCTV watches over his estate to warn him of intruders. His cautionary nature fails him in Drishyam 3 – the only sign that he has evolved from the previous films.The other difference is the mild acknowledgement that other people suffer so that Georgekutty may play the perfect family man. The rest of Drishyam 3 re-heats the formula that made the first movie work.The ending suggests that Jeethu Joseph is not done yet. Georgekutty’s travails look all set to drag on even though the sequels have been steadily diminishing in impact and logic.