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Drishyam 3 Tops ₹100 Cr in India, Thudarum Next in Its Sights
Mohanlal's Drishyam 3 has quietly done what very few Malayalam films manage: it has turned a slow-burn courtroom thriller into a nine-figure earner. As per industry tracker Sacnilk, the Jeethu Joseph-directed finale crossed ₹100 crore net in India during its second week and is now closing in on Thudarum, Mohanlal's own 2025 blockbuster, on the worldwide chart. For a franchise built on tension rather than spectacle, that is a remarkable run.
The headline number everyone is chasing is the lifetime worldwide gross. Thudarum finished its theatrical life at roughly ₹235.40 crore worldwide. By Day 18, Drishyam 3 had grossed about ₹234.97 crore, according to Sacnilk's estimates. The gap is now a rounding error, and the third Drishyam looks set to overtake it within days.
The day-wise picture
Drishyam 3 opened on a Thursday and front-loaded its first weekend, as most big Malayalam releases do. What stands out is not a single record-breaking day but how stubbornly the film refused to collapse on weekdays. The India net figures below are daily; the worldwide gross is the cumulative running total at the points Sacnilk has consolidated it.
| Day | India Net (Rs cr) | Worldwide Gross (Rs cr) |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 (Thu) | 15.85 | — |
| Day 2 (Fri) | 11.05 | — |
| Day 3 (Sat) | 13.70 | ~100 |
| Day 4 (Sun) | 13.85 | — |
| Day 5 (Mon) | 7.70 | — |
| Day 6 (Tue) | 6.50 | — |
| Day 7 (Wed) | 6.65 | — |
| Day 8 (Thu) | 6.65 | — |
| Day 9 (Fri) | 4.30 | ~200 |
| Day 10 (Sat) | 5.10 | — |
| Day 11 (Sun) | 5.35 | — |
| Day 12 (Mon) | 2.20 | — |
| Day 13 (Tue) | 1.55 | — |
| Day 14 (Wed) | 1.25 | ~229 |
| Day 15 (Thu) | 0.93 | — |
| Day 16 (Fri) | 0.80 | 231.26 |
| Day 17 (Sat) | 1.30 | — |
| Day 18 (Sun) | 1.70 | 234.97 |
A note on the blanks: Sacnilk refreshes the India figure daily but consolidates the overseas and worldwide gross at intervals, so the worldwide column is filled only where a verified cumulative number exists. Any later day not yet reported is awaited.
Opening and the weekend that held
The ₹15.85 crore Day 1 is a strong Malayalam start, though not a franchise-shattering one. The more telling detail is Day 2: instead of the steep Friday dip that follows a Thursday opening, the film slipped only to ₹11.05 crore before bouncing back across Saturday and Sunday. The first weekend landed at roughly ₹54.45 crore net, and crucially the audience kept turning up.
That shape matters. A film that opens huge and falls off a cliff is usually riding a star's first-day pull. A film that opens well and holds is being carried by word of mouth, which is exactly what you want from a whodunit where spoilers can kill repeat business. Sacnilk's numbers suggest the spoilers stayed contained and the recommendations kept coming.
The weekday test, passed
Monday is where most films meet reality. Drishyam 3 dropped to ₹7.70 crore on Day 5, then settled into a ₹6.5–6.65 crore groove for three straight weekdays. Holding two-thirds of your Monday number through Wednesday and Thursday is a genuinely healthy hold for any language, and it is how the film built its base before the second weekend.
The slide only sharpened once the novelty wore off. By the second week the daily figures had thinned to single digits and then to under ₹2 crore, which is normal for the tail end of a theatrical run as screens get reassigned. The film had already banked its money by then.
Crossing the ₹100 crore line
The ₹100 crore India net milestone arrived on Day 13, with cumulative collections hitting ₹100.45 crore, per Sacnilk. By Day 18 the India net total had reached ₹106.43 crore. That is the figure driving the current headlines, and it puts Drishyam 3 among the small club of Malayalam films to clear a nine-figure domestic net.
Worldwide is where the franchise really shows its muscle. The overseas markets chipped in close to ₹111.50 crore, almost half the global total. India gross sat around ₹123.47 crore, giving the worldwide figure of about ₹234.97 crore by Day 18. For a Malayalam thriller, that overseas-to-domestic balance is the mark of a true diaspora event film.
Hit or flop? The verdict
Official budget numbers for Drishyam 3 have not been disclosed, so the cleanest read is through its collection multiples rather than a precise profit figure. On that score there is little ambiguity. A few markers stand out:
- An opening that grew, not shrank — the held weekend signals real demand, not just brand recall.
- Steady weekday holds — the ₹6.5 crore plateau in week one is a hit's profile, not a flop's.
- A heavy overseas haul — ₹111.50 crore from abroad is blockbuster-tier for the language.
- A nine-figure India net — ₹106.43 crore comfortably clears the bar for a commercial success.
Put together, Drishyam 3 reads as a clear hit. The only open question is bragging rights against Thudarum, and even that looks like a formality now.
What comes next
The immediate watch is the Thudarum line. Sitting at roughly ₹234.97 crore against Thudarum's ₹235.40 crore, Drishyam 3 needs barely half a crore more worldwide to pull ahead, and at its current trickle that is a matter of a day or two. Once it does, Mohanlal will hold both of the years' biggest Malayalam grossers — and beat himself to do it.
After that, attention shifts to the streaming window and the inevitable dubbed versions, which is where the Drishyam franchise has always found a second life across Hindi, Telugu, Tamil and Kannada audiences. The Malayalam original has made its case at the till. The wider Indian box office story for the Drishyam 3 brand may only be getting started. All collection figures here are as per Sacnilk's estimates and update as the run continues.
