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

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

Published on: Sep 24, 2026, 11:53:29 IST

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Mumbai, Director Abhishek Pathak says he was under immense pressure following the sudden exit of Akshaye Khanna from "Drishyam 3", which forced them to rewrite the part to introduce a new character just days before the shoot.

Khanna, who played IG Tarun Ahlawat in "Drishyam 2", walked out from the third part of the popular franchise seven days before the shoot was scheduled to commence, according to the producers. They then roped in actor Jaideep Ahlawat.

Pathak said following Khanna's exit he and his team had to completely rewrite the character at the earliest. Besides directing the movie, he is also the producer and writer on "Drishyam 3".

"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," the director told PTI in an interview.

"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 producer father, Kumar Mangat Pathak has sent a legal notice to Khanna for 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 broke out.

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

Pathak assured fans of the "Drishyam" franchise that it will be fun for them to watch Ahlawat, an actor known for his solid performances across movies and shows like "Jaane Jaan", "Three of Us" and "Paatal Lok" and others.

"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.

Pathak said actors abruptly leaving a film just before the shoot can disrupt the livelihood of many crew members, who work for Rs. 2000 or 3000 per day,

"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," the director said.

Pathak emphasised that there's a need for an industry system to be in place to prevent actors from walking out of films 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 because this is my reason' whatever the reason may be," he said.

He also said it is important for actors to resolve creative differences through discussions.

"…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," Pathak 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 said.

"Drishyam 3" will also see Shriya Saran reprising her role as Devgn's wife Nandini Salgaonkar, Ishita Dutta as Anju, Tabu as Meera Deshmukh, and Rajat Kapoor as Mahesh Deshmukh.

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

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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