There was a time in Bollywood when the line between the hero and the villain was clear-cut, heroes wore white hats, and villains black. But modern cinema thrives in grey. Today, characters are layered, flawed and deeply human. The criminal is no longer just a ‘bad guy’, he’s often a product of circumstance, shaped by choices he’s forced to make rather than ones he wants to. Vijay Salgaonkar from ‘Drishyam 2’ embodies this shift perfectly. He’s not a cop or a gangster, just a regular cable guy with a deep love for movies and a genius for staying ten steps ahead. Seeing Ajay Devgan play Vijay’s character with such a calculated calm, it makes us ask ourselves if we were in his shoes, would we have done anything differently?
3 Reasons Why Drishyam 2’s Vijay Salgaonkar is Bollywood’s Smartest yet Morally Complex Characters
What makes Vijay so compelling is that he isn’t inherently a criminal. He becomes one. Shivangi Sharma, Chief Entertainment Officer, Excitel lists 3 reasons why Vijay Salgaonkar might just be Bollywood’s smartest, yet most morally layered character:
The Rule-Breaking Protector
Vijay does it all. Lies, cover-ups, mind games but not for money or revenge instead, to protect his family. Every move he makes is for his wife and daughters. But here’s the twist: he also hides bodies, manipulates the truth, and bends the law at every turn. So, the real question is whether he is just a loving father, or someone willing to break every rule to keep them safe?
There’s a moment when he says: “Main apni family ke liye kuch bhi kar sakta hoon…kuch bhi.” And he’s clearly not exaggerating. One moment you’re shocked by his actions, the next you’re rooting for him. He’s not a typical hero or a villain, he is just a man caught in that messy space where love, fear, and desperation collide.
He Uses Cinema as His Guide and Weapon
Vijay isn’t some trained criminal mastermind, he’s a layman who runs a cable business and lives for movies. However, the twist is that he doesn’t just watch films for fun, he studies them. Every strategy he uses, every move he makes, feels like it’s straight out of a script, which kind of it is.
Remember when he calmly tells the cops: “Main filmon se seekhta hoon… har kahani kuch na kuch sikhati hai.” He doesn’t just blur the line between reel and real, he lives in that space, and somehow, it works.
His Guilt Isn’t Gone, It’s Buried, Like Everything Else
What really makes Vijay so morally complex isn’t just what he does, it’s what it costs him. He protects his family, but also carries the heavy weight of every lie, every secret, every buried truth. There are quiet, almost wordless moments in Drishyam 2, like when he sits alone in the church, or watches his family from a distance.
You can feel that the guilt never really left him. And then there’s that final scene when he walks away, calm on the outside, but you’re left wondering: Did he win? Or did he just survive, again? It’s that lingering question that makes him unforgettable.
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Image Credits: IMDb
