Jaideep Ahlawat, the Rival Vijay Salgaonkar Needed

Jaideep Ahlawat has a busy October. He plays Crime Branch officer Rajveer Singh Tomar in Drishyam: The Conclusion, which opened on Oct. 2, and a Pakistani prosecutor in Prahaar, which followed on Oct. 16. Critics single him out in both, and a few say the Drishyam film did not use him enough.

Drishyam: The Conclusion

In the third and final Hindi Drishyam film, directed by Abhishek Pathak, Ajay Devgn's Vijay Salgaonkar faces a new investigator. Ahlawat plays SP Crime Branch Rajveer Singh Tomar, who reopens the case of Sameer Deshmukh when new evidence appears, according to Outlook.

At the trailer launch in Goa on Sept. 9, Ahlawat said he was not replacing Akshaye Khanna, who played IG Tarun Ahlawat in Drishyam 2. Hindustan Times quotes him: "When I heard the story, it wasn't framed as if I was stepping into Akshaye Sir's shoes." He said one character's journey concludes and another is introduced. Pathak told ETimes, as Hindustan Times reports, that a new character was written for him.

What critics said

India Today's Sanjay Ponnappa argues that Ahlawat gave Vijay the first adversary who could match him move for move. He calls Rajveer menacing, patient and observant, and says the actor has an ability to make stillness intimidating. He writes that Ahlawat's physical stature makes Vijay look vulnerable, and that the two actors create a battle of restraint.

Outlook's Aishani Biswas also names Ahlawat as one of the strongest parts of the film, with an intimidating stillness that avoids a standard police villain. She is less kind to the film itself, which she says struggles to match the earlier ones and sometimes confuses a complicated plot with convincing writing.

Ponnappa's main complaint is that the second half pulls Rajveer away from the central conflict into meetings and other duties. He says that leaves the film short of a truly memorable final battle.

Prahaar

In Prahaar, Ahlawat plays Chaudhary Zulfiqar, a public prosecutor from Pakistan who comes to India for the Kasab case. The Hindu's Anuj Kumar says the role serves as a narrative bridge to the other side, and that Ahlawat's measured performance conveys empathy. India Today's Sana Farzeen calls it a cameo that makes a strong impression, with a scene over bombil fish that softens his rivalry with Rajkummar Rao's Ujjwal Nikam. The Tribune's Subhash K Jha says he avoids stereotype and makes the man look human.

Why it matters

In both films Ahlawat plays the person opposite the lead, and in both the reviews we read treat his scenes with the lead as a strength. The Drishyam role also puts him in a franchise where the previous investigator was played by another actor.

What we could not confirm

We have not seen either film. The sources we read do not explain why Khanna did not return, and we do not speculate. Critics' reactions here are the writers' opinions.

Sources

*Cover photo: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Wikimedia Commons, *[*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaideep_Ahlawat_at_IFFI_2022.jpg*](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jaideep_Ahlawat_at_IFFI_2022.jpg)* (GODL-India).*