From the genius of Drishyam to the misfires of Mirage, here’s ranking every Malayalam thriller directed by Jeethu Joseph before Georgekutty returns in Drishyam 3.
Key Points
- Anticipation is high for Drishyam 3, with fans hoping it avoids the ‘third film curse’ and continues the franchise’s success.
- Jeethu Joseph has a formidable reputation in the thriller genre, with Drishyam and Memories being landmark films that cemented his status.
- With the first Drishyam film, Jeethu Joseph crafted a gripping thriller that not only gave Malayalam cinema one of its most fascinating protagonists in Georgekutty, but also built a legacy that travelled far beyond Kerala.
On May 21, Malayalam cinema fans will be waiting with bated breath for one answer. Will Jeethu Joseph once again give us a compelling reason for Georgekutty to return to our screens in Drishyam 3?
Or will the film succumb to the dreaded ‘third film curse’, where the second sequel often turns out to be the weakest entry in the franchise?
Of course, we all want the first possibility to come true. So does Ajay Devgn, who is bringing his Hindi remake in October.
With the first Drishyam film, Jeethu Joseph crafted a gripping thriller that not only gave Malayalam cinema one of its most fascinating protagonists in Georgekutty, but also built a legacy that travelled far beyond Kerala. The film inspired remakes across multiple languages, including Sinhalese and Chinese adaptations.
The sequel too emerged victorious, though releasing it directly on OTT instead of theatres remains a decision many Malayalis still regret. Just look at the box office success of the Hindi remake to understand the scale of the missed theatrical bonanza.
Thanks to the enduring impact of Drishyam movies and more such thrillers, Jeethu Joseph carved a formidable reputation in the genre.
That said, thrillers are not the only films he has made, nor the only genre in which he has succeeded. He has directed romcoms (My Boss), coming-of-age dramedies (Life of Josutty), crime comedies (Nunakkuzhi), and family dramas (Mummy & Me).
Still, thrillers remain the genre most associated with him. He has even directed films in the same space across Tamil (Papanasam, Thambi), Telugu (Drushyam 2) and Hindi cinema (The Body).
While we wait to see whether Drishyam 3 strikes gold yet again for JJ, Sreeju Sudhakaran revisits all the 11 thrillers Jeethu Joseph has directed in Malayalam cinema and ranks them from weakest to best.
11. Mirage (2025)
Mirage is so bafflingly bad that it feels shocking Jeethu Joseph approved this mess to reach theatres in the first place.
Starring Asif Ali and Aparna Balamurali, the film revolves around a young woman teaming up with an online journalist to uncover dark secrets left behind by her dead fiancé.
Mirage is a textbook example of a film relying too heavily on twists instead of building an intelligent screenplay to support them.
The initial reveals may generate intrigue, but as the pile-up of surprises grows increasingly absurd, the experience turns exhausting. Even Jeethu Joseph’s otherwise capable direction feels listless here.
By the time the climax unleashes its final barrage of ridiculous twists, you are left wondering what convinced Asif and Aparna to sign up for this in the first place.
10. Oozham (2016)
Oozham had the unfortunate burden of being the follow-up thriller act to arrived after Jeethu Joseph’s biggest blockbuster and cult favourite, Drishyam.
There was certainly promise here. It was a revenge thriller led by Prithviraj Sukumaran, playing an IT professional with hacking skills. The film attempts to spice things up with a non-linear narrative structure, but the fragmented storytelling mostly serves to disguise how little substance the actual plot possesses.
The revenge arc, carried out with the assistance of the protagonist’s girlfriend and younger brother, lacks the intelligence and urgency needed to become truly gripping.
Worse, the antagonists never feel threatening enough to make the conflict compelling.
9. Valathu Vashathe Kallan (2026)
To be fair, nearly two-thirds of Valathu Vashathe Kallan is genuinely engaging and suspenseful. The premise, involving a corrupt cop desperately trying to solve a murder because it might help him uncover the whereabouts his kidnapped son, has solid emotional and dramatic potential.
Biju Menon and Joju George are dependable in the lead roles, and several developments in the first half keep you invested.
Unfortunately, once a major character dies around the midway mark, the film begins to stumble on the knots it has twisted itself in.
The screenplay grows increasingly unconvincing, the revenge angle becomes needlessly convoluted, and the eventual reveal behind the mystery is disappointingly underwhelming.
Some performances too feel oddly lethargic, especially from the actor ultimately revealed as the killer.
8. 12th Man (2022)
Loosely inspired by the Italian film Perfect Strangers, 12th Man is a film of two wildly contrasting halves.
The first half is so irritating that it almost tempts you to switch it off altogether. If you endure it, however, you are rewarded with a tightly mounted closed-room murder mystery that becomes genuinely suspenseful.
Mohanlal mirrors the film’s unevenness in his performance. He is gratingly over-the-top as the intrusive alcoholic resort guest harassing a group of married friends.
Yet, he becomes considerably better once the second half reveals him in a different light, investigating the death of one among the group. The ensemble cast fares inconsistently, with performances ranging from decent to outright annoying.
7. Detective (2007)
Detective is Jeethu Joseph’s debut feature and a classic old-school whodunit in the finest Malayalam tradition, where the film bombards the audience with plenty of suspects before revealing the killer.
Suresh Gopi plays a double role, as a ‘young’ politician accused of murdering his shrew of a wife and his estranged lookalike half-brother, the officer investigating the case.
While Suresh Gopi is merely functional in the lead parts and the opening portions take time to gain momentum, the film becomes thoroughly absorbing once the investigation kicks into gear.
The climax reveal is particularly memorable, especially the ingenious manner in which the murder is executed, though it borrows heavily from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.
6. Neru (2023)
Neru works largely because its central premise is difficult to shake off emotionally.
The film revolves around a blind sculptor who survives sexual assault at the hands of a privileged young man, and a demoralised lawyer who returns from self-imposed retirement to fight for justice on her behalf.
Mohanlal and Anaswara Rajan are excellent as the lawyer and survivor respectively.
The courtroom sequences remain mostly engaging and deliver a few genuinely powerful moments, though the screenplay occasionally slips into exaggerated territory.
Siddique and Sankar Induchoodan get under your skin as the antagonists. Neru is ultimately a solid courtroom drama, though one that perhaps overstays its welcome with a need for tighter writing and editing.
5. Aadhi (2018)
Aadhi generated considerable hype for marking Pranav Mohanlal’s debut as a lead actor, with his superstar father appearing in a cameo.
Pranav may not be a particularly expressive actor, but he possesses impressive athletic flexibility. Jeethu Joseph smartly recognises his strengths and builds the film around them, especially during the action sequences showcasing parkour.
Aadhi is a survival thriller about a young man forced to go on the run after accidentally causing the death of a powerful businessman’s son.
The film moves at a brisk pace, avoids unnecessary distractions and remains consistently thrilling. The supporting cast, particularly Siddique, Anusree, Sharaf U Dheen and Siju Wilson, add further strength to the proceedings.
4. Kooman (2022)
Kooman features Asif Ali in one of Jeethu Joseph’s more unusual protagonists. He plays a talented cop afflicted with kleptomania, who secretly indulges in petty theft during his night-time escapades, hence the owl-inspired title.
The film follows him as he investigates a string of murders seemingly connected to a mysterious serial killer, all while trying to ensure his own nocturnal activities remain hidden.
Kooman is among Jeethu’s slicker and more polished thrillers, especially once the investigation gains momentum. Asif Ali performs convincingly in the lead role, while the supporting cast, including Hannah Reji Koshy, Jaffer Idukki and Baburaj, contribute effectively.
The climax, however, left many divided because of the problematic way it frames a particular community.
3. Drishyam (2013)
Drishyam is the film that transformed Jeethu Joseph into a pan Indian name.
One of its greatest strengths lies in how effortlessly it lures the viewer into believing they are watching a slice-of-life family drama before gradually morphing into a nail-biting thriller.
A massive reason for the film’s success, apart from Mohanlal’s restrained brilliance, is the way Georgekutty is written. He may be semi-literate, but his intelligence is shaped by the countless films he consumes as a movie buff. Above all, he is a family man willing to cross any line to protect his loved ones.
That emotional grounding is what turned Georgekutty into such an enduring figure for audiences. The screenplay gives ample space for his ingenuity to shine, and while the police brutality scenes feel somewhat excessive, the film continually surprises with its twists.
The final reveal remains one of the most iconic climaxes in Indian cinema.
2. Memories (2013)
2013 proved to be a landmark year for Jeethu Joseph because he delivered not one but two of Malayalam cinema’s finest thrillers: Drishyam and Memories.
Memories is an investigative thriller centred on a brilliant cop destroyed by alcoholism after the deaths of his wife and daughter, who is then assigned to solve a series of gruesome murders.
Prithviraj Sukumaran is exceptional in the lead role, and the murder mystery is mounted with remarkable tension, particularly in how the hero’s alcoholism becomes his physical and psychological handicap.
One slight issue is that the killer’s earlier presence in the narrative is so fleeting that the reveal lacks the satisfaction of a carefully planted mystery.
Even so, the killer’s motivations and the way the case intersects with the protagonist’s personal life make the climax highly effective and thrilling.
1. Drishyam 2 (2021)
The greatest trick Jeethu Joseph ever pulled may well have been convincing audiences that Drishyam 2 was an unnecessary sequel.
Releasing it directly on OTT during the pandemic only heightened those doubts. Then the film completely demolishes them by turning out to be one of the best sequels made in Indian cinema in the past 10 years.
Drishyam 2‘s biggest triumph lies in how it weaponises its seemingly sluggish first half as camouflage for an exhilarating, smartly-written second half filled with shocking twists.
The moment the pieces fall into place and Georgekutty’s elaborate plan is revealed, your jaw drops alongside the characters within the film itself.
What makes the sequel even stronger is that it never paints its antagonists as hateful villains. They are grieving parents seeking closure or honest officers simply doing their duty.
Yet, the film also makes it a point to establish that Georgekutty may have once again outsmarted everyone around him, but he can never truly emerge victorious. He remains trapped inside the existential prison created by his own actions.
Now all eyes are on Drishyam 3 to see how Jeethu Joseph extends that moral and psychological burden further, and how Georgekutty once again attempts to outwit fate itself.
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff
