Shriya Saran has been playing Nandini Salgaonkar for 11 years, yet returning to the character for each instalment of the Drishyam franchise has never been as simple as remembering what she did in the previous film. In an exclusive conversation, the actor opened up about revisiting Nandini across the three parts, working with Ajay Devgn, and the emotional weight of filming the final chapter, Drishyam: The Conclusion.
For Saran, the last day of the shoot carried a particular heaviness. Looking around the set, especially at the dining table where the family had shared so many scenes, she realised that the characters she had lived with for over a decade might never return.
The Weight of Saying Goodbye
“It was hard. It was a heavy feeling, you know, like this is it, this is the end,” Saran recalled. She described watching the family share a final meal on camera and sensing that the world they had built together was coming to a close. At the same time, there was a sense of satisfaction. The team knew they had made a strong film. Still, the possibility that these characters would not be found again made the moment difficult.
Nandini, she said, will always remain close to her heart. The relationship between Nandini and Vijay Salgaonkar, played by Ajay Devgn, has been one of quiet strength and mutual support. Except for a brief moment in the first film, Vijay never holds Nandini’s actions against her. From the second film onward, the couple functions as a team, carrying shared fear, pain and the determination to protect their family.
Helplessness as the Core Emotion
There was a considerable gap between Drishyam 2 and Drishyam: The Conclusion, and Nandini’s emotional journey had shifted once more. Saran identified the central feeling she needed to access for the final film as a specific kind of helplessness: knowing that someone needs help but being unable to understand or act on it at the moment when it matters most.
That internal state, she explained, guided her performance. The character continues to live with the fear of losing her family and the quiet pressure of wanting to be present for her children. A line that runs through the franchise—“Dhum ghut ta hai”—captures the sense of something heavy pressing down, a mixture of pain, anxiety about the future and the constant effort to hold everything together.
Motherhood and a Changed Perspective
Motherhood significantly altered Saran’s relationship with the role. When she filmed Drishyam 2, her daughter was only eight months old. The team’s support during that period left a lasting impression. They adjusted schedules so she could leave earlier after shoots, sometimes even before the lead actor, recognising that she was a new mother. Her first reading for the second film was arranged around her child’s sleep time.
By the time Drishyam: The Conclusion went on floors, her daughter was older, yet the consideration continued. Saran has spoken about becoming more selective with the projects she accepts, wanting to spend time with her child and choose films that her daughter might one day feel proud of. The experience of parenting also deepened her understanding of Nandini’s protective instincts and quiet resilience.
An 11-Year Relationship with a Character
Few actors get the chance to inhabit the same role across more than a decade. For Saran, Nandini has been a constant through different phases of her own life. The first film introduced a woman whose world is upended by a single night. The second explored the long-term consequences and the strain of living with secrets. The third and final chapter required her to portray a more complex emotional fatigue—the accumulation of years spent safeguarding a fragile peace.
She has described the writing by Abhishek Pathak as carefully layered, giving Nandini an inner life that is rarely stated outright but remains consistently present. Working opposite Devgn, Tabu, and later additions such as Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj, she found herself part of an ensemble that treated the material with seriousness and care.
A Franchise Defined by Restraint
Drishyam has always operated through understatement. The tension comes less from spectacle and more from the quiet decisions of ordinary people under extraordinary pressure. Saran’s performance as Nandini has mirrored that approach. She rarely raises her voice or demands attention. Instead, she registers the cost of the family’s choices through small shifts in expression and posture.
That quality of restraint made the final day on set especially poignant. After years of returning to the same house, the same relationships and the same underlying fear, the knowledge that the story was concluding created a genuine sense of loss among the cast and crew.
Looking Back with Gratitude
Saran has expressed gratitude for the collaborative environment the Drishyam team created. The support she received as a new mother, the consistency of the writing, and the professional respect on set all contributed to a working experience she values. Even as she acknowledges the emotional toll of playing Nandini for the last time, she frames the journey as one of growth and meaningful work.
Drishyam: The Conclusion brings the Hindi franchise to a close. For audiences, it offers the final chapter in a story that has held attention across more than a decade. For Shriya Saran, it marks the end of a role that accompanied her through significant personal change. The heavy feeling she described is the natural result of saying goodbye to a character who has lived with her for 11 years—one she is unlikely to forget.
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