‘It’s problematic’: Abhishek Pathak on Akshaye Khanna’s ‘Drishyam 3’ exit, seeks rules to prevent late walkouts

Director Abhishek Pathak says Akshaye Khanna’s sudden exit from “Drishyam 3” put him under immense pressure and forced the team to rewrite the character and introduce a new one just days before the shoot.

Khanna, who played IG Tarun Ahlawat in “Drishyam 2”, left the third instalment of the franchise seven days before filming was scheduled to begin, according to the producers. Actor Jaideep Ahlawat was subsequently brought on board.

Pathak, who is directing, producing and writing “Drishyam 3”, said the team had to completely rework the character at short notice.

“Maybe an independent director on the film would have stepped back and said, ‘I can't do it, I need some time, I might have to push the shoot’. There are actors involved, there's a set which got constructed,” Pathak told PTI in an interview.

But with actor dates already committed, Pathak said he could not afford to delay the production.

“For me, there was a different kind of pressure, I cannot say, ‘I can't do it. It's so much pressure, stress, I can't handle it’. But I told my team, ‘We’ve to do it, otherwise the film will get delayed, there are dates of actors which we’ve and once that goes away, it might get pushed',” he said.

Pathak's father and producer Kumar Mangat Pathak has also sent a legal notice to Khanna alleging breach of agreement for “Drishyam 3”.

“We had narrated the entire script to him and he had liked it. We signed the agreement and he hugged Abhishek and he was even paid the signing amount for the film. But ahead of the release of ‘Dhurandhar’, he said he didn’t want to be part of the film via a text message,” Mangat Pathak told PTI last year when the controversy over Khanna’s exit first emerged.

In the third and final chapter of the Ajay Devgn-led thriller franchise, Ahlawat plays SP Crime Branch Rajveer Singh Tomar, who goes after Vijay Salgaonkar (Devgn) and his family.

Pathak said he did not want Ahlawat to simply replicate Khanna’s performance and instead decided to rewrite the character completely.

“I didn't want a new actor coming on board and trying to do what some other actor has done. So, I told my team, let's rewrite the character completely and it was challenging. But at the same time, it's fun because a new playground is given and you’ve to make this character stand out, you’ve to take the character two notches up and give a stronger element to it,” he said.

The director also raised concerns about the wider impact of actors leaving projects after contracts have been signed, saying such decisions can affect the livelihoods of crew members who depend on daily wages.

Actors and technicians working on films can earn as little as Rs 2,000 or Rs 3,000 a day, he said, adding that production changes can disrupt their financial planning.

"Suddenly you put their life at risk because they have planned their life accordingly... I think there has to be a certain rule about it where you cannot just step out once you wish because you didn't feel right about something. So, it's more about a solution has to come together, figure out a plan, a law, a rule,” Pathak said.

He said the film industry needs a system to address situations where actors leave after contracts have been signed and creative discussions have been completed.

“When you already have a creatively locked discussion, you’ve an agreement in place, you're doing a couple of readings and you don't think about this and suddenly one day someone can get up and say, ‘I don't feel like this (doing the film) because this is my reason' whatever the reason may be,” he said.

Pathak also stressed that creative differences should be resolved through discussions before a contract is signed and payment is made.

“…You cannot start doing creative discussion after taking the payment and getting the contract signed. So, that's something which happened in a couple of films and even mine,” he said.

“So, that becomes too problematic for the producer. The producer might have an option of stopping the shoot but that can affect a lot of people, a lot of crew members. And it's not about just a film, it's about so many livelihoods, it's problematic,” he added.

“Drishyam 3” also stars Shriya Saran as Devgn’s wife Nandini Salgaonkar, Ishita Dutta as Anju, Tabu as Meera Deshmukh and Rajat Kapoor as Mahesh Deshmukh.

Presented by Star Studio18 and produced by Alok Jain, Ajit Andhare, Kumar Mangat Pathak and Abhishek Pathak, the film is scheduled to release in theatres on October 2.