Indian Films With Staggering Numbers Of Script Drafts: ‘Drishyam 3’, ‘12th Fail’ & More

Written By: Entertainment Desk

Oct 06, 2026 16:33 IST ⓘ

Indian films that took extraordinary writing journeys before reaching audiences.

A film lasts a few hours. Getting its script right can take years – and enough versions to make the word ‘final’ lose all meaning. A twist arrives too early, a joke refuses to land, a character needs more room, and suddenly the writer is back at page one. While audiences remember the finished film, the abandoned versions rarely get their moment in the spotlight. Now, ‘Drishyam: The Conclusion’ has offered a particularly entertaining glimpse into that process. Before Vijay Salgaonkar could deliver his latest move, the people plotting it apparently had to survive a small mountain of drafts themselves.

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In an interview with The Free Press Journal, screenwriter Aamil Keeyan Khan said the film went through “well over a hundred drafts in different forms”. His description of folders within folders and increasingly desperate ‘final’ filenames will sound painfully familiar to anyone who has ever revised a document. The challenge, he explained, was that viewers already knew Vijay’s methods and would question everything he did. Outsmarting that audience required serious work.

The thriller has plenty of company. From a UPSC aspirant’s journey to a cursed treasure hunt, these Indian films went through remarkable numbers of drafts before reaching the screen. The counts below refer to drafts or versions described by their makers or documented in interviews.

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1. Drishyam: The Conclusion - More Than 100 Drafts In Different Forms

Director: Abhishek Pathak | Released: October 2, 2026 | Worldwide gross: Rs 303 crore through October 5, 2026

Vijay Salgaonkar may be excellent at keeping his family’s secrets under control, but his writers had a rather less manageable collection of files. Aamil Keeyan Khan told The Free Press Journal that he had lost count of the drafts, with filenames eventually reaching the gloriously weary “FINAL PLEASE GOD”. He put the number at comfortably over 100, while specifying that these existed in different forms.

The final Hindi installment brings Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shriya Saran and Rajat Kapoor back into Vijay’s battle to protect his family, with Jaideep Ahlawat and Prakash Raj adding fresh pressure. The old crime continues to cast a shadow over the Salgaonkars, and the story moves towards a decisive reckoning. Khan said the team wanted a proper conclusion while preserving the franchise’s family emotions, humour and suspense.

2. 12th Fail - 179 Drafts

Director: Vidhu Vinod Chopra | Released: October 27, 2023 | Worldwide gross: Rs 70.05 crore

‘Restart’ is the idea that powers ‘12th Fail’, and its screenplay appears to have taken that instruction very seriously. At a masterclass marking the film’s 100 days in theatres, Vidhu Vinod Chopra revealed that the script had gone through 179 drafts, according to reports from the event. That is an extraordinary amount of revision for a film whose greatest strength is how straightforwardly it speaks to its audience.

Vikrant Massey plays Manoj Kumar Sharma, whose journey from a financially struggling background to the civil-services examination is filled with setbacks, difficult choices and people who help him begin again. Medha Shankr, Anant Vijay Joshi and Anshumaan Pushkar feature alongside him. Adapted from Anurag Pathak’s book, the film makes an examination journey feel like an emotional thriller: every attempt matters, and the stakes extend far beyond a result sheet.

3. Tumbbad - Around 60-70 Drafts

Director: Rahi Anil Barve | Released: October 12, 2018 | Worldwide gross: Approximately Rs 16 crore in original run

The curse in ‘Tumbbad’ is ancient; its screenplay had a fairly epic journey of its own. Sohum Shah Films’ official making-of material describes around 60-70 drafts written over 18 years, with even the climax changing during development. Barve has separately recalled writing the first draft in 1997, when he was 18. Those accounts make clear that the film’s unsettling world was built through a long process of invention and revision.

Sohum Shah leads the folk-horror film as Vinayak, a man whose hunt for hidden wealth draws him into a terrifying ancestral secret. Mohammad Samad, Jyoti Malshe and Anita Date also feature. The story turns greed into something horribly tangible: finding the treasure is only the beginning of the trouble. Its audience grew substantially after its initial release. Sacnilk recorded a combined worldwide gross of approximately Rs 52.25 crore after the first four weeks of its 2024 re-release, including the original run – a dated cumulative figure, rather than a final total for every subsequent screening.

4. Sairat - 50 Drafts

Director: Nagraj Manjule | Released: April 29, 2016 | Worldwide gross: Rs 110 crore

‘Sairat’ makes falling in love look spontaneous. Writing that love story was anything but. Accounts of its development, citing Nagraj Manjule’s BBC interview, record 50 screenplay drafts over two years before he completed the script in 2014. The familiar boy-meets-girl setup became a vehicle for something much more uncomfortable: the barriers that caste and social power place around a relationship.

Rinku Rajguru plays the assertive Archi, while Akash Thosar is Parshya, the young man she falls for despite their very different social backgrounds. Their romance brings excitement, escape and the difficult reality of trying to build a life together. Manjule gives the couple the sweep of a mainstream love story while refusing to make the prejudice around them disappear. That balance helps explain why the Marathi film travelled so widely – and why its emotional impact lasts considerably longer than its songs.

5. Shubh Mangal Saavdhan - Nearly 50 Drafts

Director: R. S. Prasanna | Released: September 1, 2017 | Worldwide gross: Rs 64.06 crore

A comedy about erectile dysfunction needs an especially careful touch when the entire extended family seems determined to join the conversation. Speaking to The Indian Express, Ayushmann Khurrana said ‘Shubh Mangal Saavdhan’ went through nearly 50 drafts before its final script was approved. He had met director Prasanna around three years earlier, after the filmmaker’s Tamil comedy ‘Kalyana Samayal Saadham’.

Ayushmann and Bhumi Pednekar play Mudit and Sugandha, an engaged couple whose private problem becomes an increasingly public family affair. Seema Pahwa and Brijendra Kala are among the supporting cast. Beneath the awkward conversations and wedding chaos, the film asks what masculinity and a supportive relationship actually mean. Ayushmann also explained why Mudit’s innocence mattered: without it, the subject could easily have gone off course.

6. Being Cyrus - Nearly 50 Drafts

Director: Homi Adajania | Released: March 24, 2006 | Worldwide gross: Rs 6.44 crore

Long before Homi Adajania directed ‘Cocktail’, his debut required a considerable amount of script tinkering. As per reports, nearly 50 drafts of ‘Being Cyrus’ were prepared before filming began. Adajania and writer Kersi Khambatta developed the material together, with Boman Irani suggesting changes along the way. By the end, Adajania said, Saif Ali Khan knew the screenplay inside out.

The English-language Indian film stars Khan alongside Naseeruddin Shah, Dimple Kapadia, Irani and Simone Singh. A mysterious outsider enters the world of a dysfunctional Parsi family, and the relationships he encounters grow increasingly uneasy. Its dark humour and shifting impressions of the characters depend on viewers never becoming too comfortable.

7. Richie - Nearly 40 Drafts

Director: Gautham Ramachandran | Released: December 8, 2017, in India

A remake may arrive with an existing story, but ‘Richie’ certainly did not arrive with an effortless screenplay. Director Gautham Ramachandran told IANS that locking the script took nearly 40 drafts over nine months. Nivin Pauly was closely involved in the process, even spending an entire day with the team to finalise the last draft. The task was to reshape the Kannada film ‘Ulidavaru Kandanthe’ for its Tamil setting and treatment – a reminder that adaptation can demand considerably more than translating dialogue.

Nivin Pauly plays the title character, with Shraddha Srinath, Natarajan Subramaniam, Lakshmi Priyaa Chandramouli and Prakash Raj in the principal cast. A journalist investigates a murder by piecing together different people’s accounts, gradually revealing a man whose reputation changes depending on who is telling the story. For a crime drama built around perspective, the writers had to decide not only what happened, but who would reveal it – and when.

8. Maharaj - Around 28-30 Drafts

Director: Siddharth P. Malhotra | Released: June 21, 2024, on Netflix

Junaid Khan’s debut came with a lengthy writing journey before it ever reached Netflix. In an appreciation post for writers Vipul Mehta and Sneha Desai, director Siddharth P. Malhotra revealed that ‘Maharaj’ went through around 28-30 drafts and more than 100 narrations. Those numbers describe two different parts of the process: the screenplay versions and the occasions on which the material was narrated. Either way, this was a story the team kept returning to long before audiences could press play.

Khan stars as journalist and social reformer Karsandas Mulji, opposite Jaideep Ahlawat, with Shalini Pandey and a special appearance by Sharvari. Based on the 1862 Maharaj Libel Case, the period drama follows Mulji’s challenge to a powerful religious figure and the legal battle that follows. Adapting material drawn from Saurabh Shah’s book meant shaping a substantial historical story into a film with a clear emotional and dramatic centre. Its eventual release was on June 21, after a court stay delayed the originally announced June 14 premiere.

9. Welcome To The Jungle - 20-25 Drafts

Director: Ahmed Khan | Released: June 26, 2026 | Worldwide gross: Rs 192.75 crore

Getting a sprawling ensemble to share a frame is one challenge. Giving everyone something to do on paper is another. Writer Farhad Samji told The Indian Express that ‘Welcome To The Jungle’ involved 20-25 drafts, with changes made before shooting schedules to suit the actors. He described developing the characterisation, dialogue and comic business around the late Neeraj Vohra’s screenplay, rather than replacing its basic premise. With a cast that large, even a seemingly small adjustment could create a fresh round of work.

Akshay Kumar leads the comedy alongside Suniel Shetty, Arshad Warsi, Paresh Rawal, Raveena Tandon, Jacqueline Fernandez and Disha Patani, among many others. The story begins with a businessman financing a film to reduce his tax liability, only for a struggling actor, ambitious gangsters and an increasingly chaotic production to send the plan spinning out of control. Samji said the project occupied the team for around three-and-a-half years.

10. Subham - 28 Drafts

Director: Praveen Kandregula | Released: May 9, 2025 | Worldwide gross: Rs 7.60 crore

A television serial becomes a supernatural household problem in ‘Subham’, but making that premise sustain an entire film took 28 screenplay drafts. Writer Vasanth Maringanti confirmed the count in a Cinema Express interview with director Praveen Kandregula. Their particular headache was repetition: with a ghost that operated within a limited space and time, the comedy had to keep developing rather than simply repeat its best joke.

Harshith Reddy, Shriya Kontham, Gavireddy Srinivas, Charan Peri, Shravani Lakshmi and Shalini Kondepudi lead the Telugu horror comedy, produced by Samantha Ruth Prabhu, who also makes a cameo. As serial-obsessed wives begin behaving in frightening ways, their husbands have to confront considerably more than a television habit. The makers said they also revised material when it became too preachy, returning to the humour at the centre of the idea.

11. Ajayante Randam Moshanam (ARM) - 25 Drafts

Director: Jithin Laal | Released: September 12, 2024 | Worldwide gross: Rs 107.32 crore

One Tovino Thomas character would have been plenty to write. ‘ARM’ gave its team three. Director Jithin Laal told Cinema Express that the script went through 25 drafts as the team explored different arrangements of its interconnected stories. The challenge was structural: viewers had to follow the connections between generations without losing the momentum of the adventure.

Written by Sujith Nambiar, the Malayalam film spans three periods in northern Kerala, with Tovino playing Kunjikelu, Maniyan and Ajayan. A treasured lamp connects the men’s stories, bringing together questions of inheritance, reputation and who gets to claim a heroic legacy. Krithi Shetty, Aishwarya Rajesh, Surabhi Lakshmi and Basil Joseph feature alongside him. Laal explained that the final structure deliberately moved between the everyday village story and Maniyan’s more expansive exploits.

12. Avane Srimannarayana - About 24 Drafts

Director: Sachin Ravi | Released: December 27, 2019, in Kannada | Worldwide gross: Rs 74.50 crore

Rakshit Shetty carried the seed of ‘Avane Srimannarayana’ for years before audiences met its mischievous policeman. Speaking to The Indian Express, the actor and co-writer said it took about 24 drafts to finalise the script they wanted to shoot. He described an approach driven by intuition, with the team building a fantasy setting and an adventurous narrative that would feel different from a conventional commercial film.

Shetty stars alongside Shanvi Srivastava, Achyuth Kumar, Pramod Shetty and Balaji Manohar in the Kannada adventure comedy. An eccentric cop becomes embroiled in a missing-treasure mystery and a dangerous conflict between rival brothers. The film mixes swagger, puzzles, bandits and elaborate comic detours, leaving its hero plenty of opportunities to talk himself into trouble. With that many moving pieces, getting the script into shooting shape was an adventure before the adventure.

13. Rang De Basanti - 22 Screenplay Drafts

Director: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra | Released: January 26, 2006 | Worldwide gross: Rs 96.90 crore

The easy banter in ‘Rang De Basanti’ hides some very demanding writing. A contemporary Rediff report recorded 22 screenplay drafts by Rensil D’Silva, who co-wrote the screenplay with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. The script had to move between present-day young people and freedom fighters, gradually develop political anger, and still feel like a film about friends rather than a lecture delivered from a podium.

Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Sharman Joshi, Kunal Kapoor, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Alice Patten and R. Madhavan form its principal ensemble. A British filmmaker recruits a group of young Indians to portray revolutionaries in a documentary; a personal tragedy then changes their relationship with the country around them. Rediff reported that the screenplay took three-and-a-half years to complete.

14. Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 - Around 15-16 Drafts

Director: Rishab Shetty | Released: October 2, 2025 | Worldwide gross: Rs 852.36 crore

‘Kantara’ grew bigger by travelling further into its past. Rishab Shetty told IANS that the prequel’s writing initially began with Shiva’s father, before the team realised it needed a more substantial backstory. The narrative moved further back, and the screenplay eventually went through roughly 15–16 drafts. Shetty contrasted that process with the first ‘Kantara’, which he said had needed only three or four drafts before filming.

Shetty leads the cast with Rukmini Vasanth, Jayaram and Gulshan Devaiah. The Kannada prequel expands the franchise’s world of forest communities, royal power, sacred traditions and conflict over land, tracing the history behind the mythology introduced in the earlier film. Its scale is far removed from the relatively contained beginning of the series. Here, the revisions helped turn what started as one character’s backstory into a much larger origin saga – and one with a formidable worldwide box-office total.

15. Lagaan - 12 Drafts

Director: Ashutosh Gowariker | Released: June 15, 2001 | Worldwide gross: Rs 58.05 crore

Before Bhuvan could persuade his village to take on the British at cricket, Lagaan’s writers had their own long innings to play. Associate director and co-screenwriter Kumar Dave told Bollywood Hungama that the team prepared 12 drafts. He recalled writing with Ashutosh Gowariker in Karjat, working from morning until night and completing the first draft in 22 days. The challenge was to build a period film around a sport without letting the match swallow the people playing it.

Aamir Khan stars alongside Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley and Paul Blackthorne in the story of drought-hit villagers who accept a cricket challenge that could free them from oppressive taxation – or leave them facing an even heavier burden. Romance, village rivalries, colonial power and the gradual formation of a team all feed into its climactic match. Twelve drafts is modest beside some of this list’s towering counts, but the film offers an iconic example of how much preparation can sit behind a seemingly irresistible premise.