The box office can be a brutal place, and this weekend it delivered a reality check that nobody in Hollywood saw coming. Tom Cruise's latest vehicle, Digger, has been absolutely steamrolled in India by a Hindi thriller that cost a fraction of its budget. According to early estimates, Digger managed a paltry Rs 1.30 crore in its opening haul on home turf, while Ajay Devgn's Drishyam 3 is busy turning theaters into packed houses and reminding everyone that star power isn't always about how far you can run.
Let's put that number in perspective. Rs 1.30 crore is the kind of figure that a mid-budget regional film might pull in a single territory on a sleepy Tuesday. For a Tom Cruise tentpole - a man who has spent the better part of two decades dangling off airplanes and scaling skyscrapers for our entertainment - it's a genuine head-scratcher. Either Indian audiences have suddenly developed a collective immunity to death-defying stunts, or they simply had better things to do this weekend. And by better things, we mean watching Ajay Devgn outsmart the entire police force for the third time.
The Mystery Machine Rolls On
Drishyam 3 hit screens on October 2, 2026, and it's already the talk of the town. Directed by Abhishek Pathak, the film picks up years after Vijay Salgaonkar first pulled off his magnum opus of misdirection. This time, new evidence threatens to blow the lid off his carefully constructed secret, and the investigation reopens with a vengeance. If you've seen the first two films, you know the drill: Vijay doesn't panic, he plans. And then he plans some more.
The cast is a murderer's row of talent. Ajay Devgn returns as the unflappable Vijay Salgaonkar, a man who could probably talk his way out of a parking ticket and a murder rap in the same afternoon. Tabu is back as Meera Deshmukh, the grieving mother whose determination to uncover the truth has only sharpened with time. Shriya Saran, Rajat Kapoor, and Jaideep Ahlawat round out the ensemble, with Prakash Raj lending his signature gravitas as Public Prosecutor Indrajith Shetty. Ishita Dutta and Mrunal Jadhav reprise their roles as the daughters caught in the crossfire.
With a runtime of 148 minutes, the film is a slow-burn thriller that trusts its audience to keep up. And apparently, they're more than willing. The TMDb rating currently sits at a perfect 10/10, which is either a testament to the film's quality or a sign that the fanbase is extremely online and extremely passionate. Either way, it's the kind of reception that Digger can only dream of right now.
A Clash of Titans, or Something Like That
On paper, this looked like a showdown for the ages. Tom Cruise, the last true movie star, going head-to-head with Ajay Devgn, the quiet powerhouse of Hindi cinema. But the actual box office tells a different story. Drishyam 3 isn't just winning - it's lapping the competition. The film's blend of family drama, cat-and-mouse suspense, and moral ambiguity has struck a nerve with audiences who grew up on the original and its sequel.
Meanwhile, Digger is left digging itself out of a hole. The film's premise - whatever it may be - clearly didn't resonate with Indian moviegoers the way Cruise's Mission: Impossible outings have in the past. Maybe it's franchise fatigue. Maybe it's the fact that Drishyam 3 offers something more grounded and emotionally resonant than another globe-trotting adventure. Or maybe, just maybe, Indian audiences are finally tired of watching a 60-something man sprint across rooftops while the rest of us worry about our knees.
It's worth noting that Digger still has plenty of markets left to conquer. A Rs 1.30 crore opening in India doesn't necessarily mean the film is a global flop. But it does raise an uncomfortable question: has the Tom Cruise brand lost some of its luster in one of the world's biggest movie markets? Only time - and the final tallies - will tell. For now, though, the narrative belongs to Drishyam 3 and its star, who has quietly become one of the most reliable box office draws in the country without ever needing to jump out of a helicopter.
The Bottom Line
Drishyam 3 is a reminder that sometimes the smartest guy in the room wins, and he doesn't even need a stunt double. Ajay Devgn's return as Vijay Salgaonkar has struck gold, while Tom Cruise's Digger has stumbled out of the gate in a major way. It's a fascinating collision of two very different cinematic worlds - one built on spectacle and star power, the other on clever writing and familiar faces. This weekend, the clever one won. And somewhere, Vijay Salgaonkar is probably already planning his next move.
Source: The Indian Express
