Trade analyst Taran Adarsh is not known for leaping out of a preview theatre seat. After watching Drishyam The Conclusion, the third part of Ajay Devgn’s hit franchise, he did exactly that — and the sequence that moved him was not an action beat, a song or a dramatic monologue from the hero.
In a conversation with Bollywood Hungama, Adarsh said the film earned one of only two standing ovations he has given in the cinema this year. The other went to Dhurandhar. What stuck with him in Drishyam The Conclusion was Ajay Devgn’s restraint.
The 15 minutes that earned the applause
Adarsh pointed to a pre-interval sequence in which Jaideep Ahlawat arrives at Devgn’s home to discuss a marriage proposal for the daughter. For about 15 minutes, Ahlawat carries the dialogue while Devgn listens. Adarsh said he told Ajay Devgn afterwards that the actor had said almost nothing in that stretch.
When Devgn’s character finally responds at the interval, Adarsh said, the payoff is the film’s real victory. He was clear that he rose from his chair for that scene before telling Devgn directly that he had given the film a standing ovation.
He also framed it as a rare thing: a big commercial Bollywood film holding a full stretch of its second act on an unspoken standoff, with the star choosing silence.
Why Ajay Devgn’s silence is the point
Adarsh called Devgn a “secure actor”. The praise is specific. A star of Devgn’s market pull, he said, could have asked director Abhishek Pathak or producer Kumar Mangat for extra lines. He could have made sure the hero had the biggest speeches in the confrontations. Instead, Devgn let Ahlawat own the room and trusted that the waiting would make his eventual reply land harder.
Here’s what the sequence gets right:
- No songs or action, so the tension has to come from actors and blocking.
- Ahlawat carries most of the dialogue, which makes Devgn’s quiet reply feel earned.
- It flips star logic — the hero doesn’t need to win every minute to command the film.
The casting and the franchise
Adarsh also credited the casting. With Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj joining this instalment, the franchise keeps its central demand: a formidable face-off. He explained that when you put an actor opposite Ajay Devgn, the audience expects two equally strong performers. Otherwise, he said, the confrontation loses its fun.
He singled out Tabu, who opens the film this time, and a post-interval moment outside the courtroom where Prakash Raj takes a selfie. For Adarsh, those choices show how carefully each scene is built.
The takeaway for movie fans
For the audience, this is not just trade praise. It is a reminder that star power can be quiet. Ajay Devgn carries the film through his eyes and facial expressions, and the franchise still works as a family thriller without songs or action. If you are new to the series, the first two films set up the family’s secret and the cat-and-mouse tension; the third pays it off with these face-offs.
Adarsh’s enthusiasm is the kind of reaction filmmakers hope for when a deeply commercial film trusts its screenplay enough to let a lead actor go silent.
Source: bollywoodHungama.com
