corona papers movie review rating

'Corona Papers' review: Slightly improved, but flawed remake

One should remake a movie only if there is enough scope for improving the original. I can see why Priyadarshan chose to remake writer-director Sri Ganesh’s Tamil hit 8 Thottakal. It was a movie with enough absurd incidents going on in spite of its predominantly serious tone. One darkly comical situation involves a robber doing something in haste and risking all his accomplices’ lives. Another has a seasoned criminal failing to notice, for a long time, that his wife is cheating on him with one of his crew members. 

We can find Priyadarshan juggling both dark and light elements in Corona Papers. One noticeable improvement is the darkness of 8 Thottakal taken down a couple of notches. Another major alteration is the characterisation of the protagonist, played by Vetri in the original and Shane Nigam in the remake. In 8 Thottakal, Vetri played the character of a stone-faced cop—one of the film’s negatives which some chalked up to his traumatic backstory.

In contrast, Shane’s character Rahul is more charming. It would suffice to say that, unlike his Tamil counterpart, Shane succeeds at putting some... life into his character’s face. He doesn’t have a traumatic backstory. He is just an ordinary policeman who loses his gun one day—an idea both films acknowledge borrowing from Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 film Stray Dog.

There was an opportunity to do something similar here with Shane and Maniyanpillai Raju (in a cameo), but Priyadarshan doesn’t explore that. So, if you’ve seen Stray Dog, don’t expect a Toshiro Mifune-Takashi Shimura level of dynamic or performances in Corona Papers. 

Performances. If there’s one thing that works in favour and against Corona Papers, it’s this aspect. The original version revealed, midway through the film, that its main events revolved around MS Bhaskar’s character, making him, in effect, the main character. Siddique plays that character in Corona Papers, and as always expected of the actor, he aces it. He has a dark backstory, though, the finale of which generates far-reaching repercussions. Just as he did with the young man’s character sketch, Priyadarshan makes minor tweaks to this senior man’s story and that of the supporting characters. 

Priyadarshan gravitating to a story of this nature is unsurprising when we remember that he once did a film that revolved around a wronged man seeking vengeance (Nedumudi Venu in Vandhanam). Corona Papers is most gripping when it stays with Siddique, who plays his character with a mix of world-weariness and steely resolve. There are things he regrets doing due to situations that are out of his control, and he is ready to face the consequences. 

Now that I think more of the comparisons between the two films, Corona Papers doesn’t follow all the events in 8 Thottakal to a T. But these improvements also bring forth new flaws. For example, Priyadarshan introduces a female cop with sinister intentions, Gracie (Sandhya Shetty). While this casting choice is interesting, it also turns out to be the main reason for its off-putting quality in multiple instances. Sandhya plays Gracie as an eminently campy villain. And not the enjoyable kind, mind you. Sandhya has reasons for doing what she does. She makes it clear that she is evil, pure and simple. But wasn’t there a different way to play this character? Instead of inspiring dread and menace, this performance often registers a comical effect. It also doesn’t help that all of Gracie’s fellow officers behave like cops we have seen in other movies. 

And the less I say about Shine Tom Chacko, the better. Look, there’s no denying that he is a great actor, but seeing him get repetitive in every new movie is, to be frank, exhausting. When taking an inventory of all his recent performances post-Bheeshma Parvam, I see very little change in his performances. Costumes change, but performances? Aside from Siddique, one of the inspired casting choices in Corona Papers is Jean Paul Lal, apt as the impatient, restless thug who makes all the wrong moves and deservedly gets what’s coming to him. 

Oddly enough, despite Priyadarshan’s interesting modifications to the original story, the film’s failure to make one emotionally invested and its inability to find a fittingly logical resolution to all its threads work against it. Even having a talented cinematographer like Divakar Mani, who conjured up some immersive images in films such as Virata Parvam and Ninnila Ninnila, doesn’t really make the storytelling that palatable.

Film: Corona Papers Director: Priyadarshan Cast: Shane Nigam, Siddique, Gayathrie Shankar, Shine Tom Chacko, Jean Paul Lal Rating: 2.5/5

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Corona Papers Reviews

The randomly chosen title is the first indicator of Corona Papers’ vacuity.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Apr 28, 2023

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'Corona Papers' review: Crime meets suspense in Priyadarshan's thriller saga

Priyadarshan's latest movie, 'Corona Papers', is a riveting investigative crime thriller that's sure to have audiences hooked. The movie draws inspiration from Sri Ganesh's Tamil film '8 Thottakal', which in turn is interestingly inspired by Akira Kurosawa's 1949 film 'Street Dog'. 

Featuring a talented cast that includes Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko, Siddique & Lal Jr., the film wastes no time in immersing viewers in its gripping plot. The story centres around the theft of a young SI's service pistol, which sets off a series of murders in the city during COVID-19 pandemic. From the very beginning, the audience is transported into the heart of the story, and the tension only continues to build from there.

The first half of the film is an immersive experience that will have you hooked from the get-go. The audience is not required to do much investigation themselves, the plot will keep you guessing as you watch the main characters try to connect the dots.

Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko team up for Priyadarshan’s ‘Corona Papers’

Priyadarshan's 'Corona Papers' OTT release date confirmed. Know details here

Unlike a traditional Arthur Conan-style mystery, 'Corona Papers' takes a page out of Agatha Christie's book, presenting a mystery that is solvable yet filled with unexpected twists and turns. The story is intriguing, with plenty of surprises in store for the audience, but it doesn't rely on hidden clues to keep you gripped.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Shane Nigam (@shanenigam786)

While the second half of the film may feel sluggish, with the potential for viewers to perceive the story as unnecessarily prolonged, the unexpected ending could be viewed as a cliché. 'Corona Papers' distinguishes itself from Priyadarshan's other works as it adopts a sombre tone and lacks musical numbers.

Regarding the performances, Shane Nigam convincingly portrays the character of a newly appointed SI Rahul Nambiar. Siddique's role is remarkable and is truly outstanding as he appears in a never-seen-before avatar. Meanwhile, Shine Tom Chacko's character 'Papi' provides some lightness to the movie, but his pivotal role in the plot's evolution is significant. 

One of the most commendable performances in the movie comes from Sandhya Shetty, who successfully carves out a unique space for herself on screen. Playing the role of a senior police officer, Shetty's mannerisms are so convincing that viewers may find themselves questioning whether she is truly a law enforcement official. At its core, the movie depicts how individuals can fall prey to their circumstances, and how personal struggles can sometimes hinder one's ability to discern what is right and what is best for them.

'Corona Papers' is a must-watch for those who are interested in mazy suspense thrillers. Priyadarshan has once again delivered a movie that is sure to captivate the viewers and leave them wanting more.

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Corona Papers

Siddique Shane Nigam Shine Tom Chacko Jean Paul Lal Sandhya Shetty Gayathrie Franco Francis Ajith Jaan (Firoz) Jaise Jose Vijilesh Karayad

Priyadarshan

Rahul, a newly appointed officer, accidentally loses his service pistol. What happens when it lands in the wrong hands?

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Corona Papers movie review: Even Siddique’s gravitas cannot redeem Priyadarshan’s slipshod thriller

A remake of the Tamil cop drama 8 Thottakkal, which in turn was based on Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog, Corona Papers is embarrassingly vacuous and a disservice to the great Japanese master.

Cast: Siddique, Sandhya Shetty, Shane Nigam, Jean Paul Lal, Hannah Reji Koshy, Shine Tom Chacko, Vijilesh Karayad, Gayathrie Shankar, Cameo: Vineeth Sreenivasan        

Director: Priyadarshan

Language: Malayalam   

The randomly chosen title is the first indicator of Corona Papers ’ vacuity. This new Malayalam thriller from veteran director Priyadarshan is a remake of writer-director Sri Ganesh’s Tamil cop drama 8 Thottakkal (8 Bullets). Ganesh is duly credited for the story, which in turn was inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog (1949) as he himself has told the media_._

Flawed though 8 Thottakkal was, it comes off looking better when compared with Corona Papers . Stray Dog was set in a post-war Japan mired in the socio-economic after-effects of defeat. In his search for an equally compelling context, Priyadarshan has zeroed in on the COVID-19 pandemic but fails to justify the titular reference with anything beyond a bank robbery conducted by men in PPEs and an incident in which a mask becomes a useful camouflage for a criminal. Honestly, if a policewoman had not hissed out the word “Corona” in exasperation after a fugitive escapes under this cover at one point, it would have been challenging to figure out the relevance of the film’s name. The lingering repercussions of the pandemic on India’s economy and polity, our personal finances and an already fractured psyche are all forgotten in this film in which, but for an occasional mask sighting, the Coronavirus is MIA.

This is ironic because the Malayalam film industry led the way in adapting to the pandemic at its height in 2020-21, incorporating COVID-19 into themes, storylines and storytelling choices, starting with C U Soon in 2020 that was the first Indian film to be conceived, written and shot after COVID began ravaging our lives, and released just months after the first lockdown was declared. Equally disappointingly, as the new Malayalam New Wave goes hyper local, acquainting viewers with the finest nuances of cultural differences from city to city, district to district and community to community in Kerala, Corona Papers opts to be generic.

Shane Nigam plays Rahul in Corona Papers , ­an earnest, honest new recruit in the Kerala Police who loses his police revolver that turns up soon after in ­a bank heist in which someone is killed. The team assigned to that case is led by the unscrupulous Gracy (Sandhya Shetty) who ropes in Rahul when she learns of his mess-up. Alongside this track runs the story of a policeman (Siddique) who is under suspension for an extra-judicial killing in which Gracy framed him.

The connection between these two stories is known to the viewer from the start. The question of when Rahul and Gracy will discover the link is meant to drive the suspense in Corona Papers . It doesn’t work at all because too much information is revealed to us, the audience. The consequences of this over-sharing are heightened by a scattered and stretched out narrative, and storytelling that includes inconsistent attempts at film noir. After 2021’s Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham , here’s another sub-par addition to Priyadarshan’s filmography.

Corona Papers ’ muted colour scheme is a constant on its otherwise uneven visual terrain. At places, the film switches inexplicably from naturalistic imagery to what feels like style for style’s sake. A close-up of a water droplet hitting the surface of a pool of water, a long shot of a solitary house surrounded by vast countryside, a flock of birds taking flight on this darkened landscape when a gun is fired, a man caught in silhouette under an umbrella in pouring rain, another watching him through his wet windshield from a car parked at a distance, well shot though they are, come across as pretentious, and can hardly be described as tributes to past works or attributes of a genre when they land in the midst of insipid writing and direction.

The gang that commits the bank robbery is the most engaging sub-set of Corona Papers ’ plot. Their intelligent, experienced and educated leader is weighed down by the task of convincing a tempestuous associate that they cannot simply splurge the cash they stole. The elderly man’s caution is met with suspicion. Whether or not he can control his team, and how exactly they will ultimately unravel become the only interesting questions in the film.

Sincere but stuck with shallow characterisation, Shane Nigam ( Eeda , Kumbalangi Nights , Bhoothakaalam ) gets to shine only in a scene in which he displays his physical prowess: an exciting chase on foot and in vehicles through crowded city roads. He can count his blessings though considering the treatment meted out to a bright youngster like Gayathrie Shankar by the script: her character, a video journalist, enters the picture to steer a crucial episode and is then pretty much forgotten till the end. And while on the subject of Gayathrie, could filmmakers please do some research on the professions they include in their films? Gayathrie’s character is only an intern yet is shown to be a regular anchor of a crime show on her channel.

The actors who dominate screen space in Corona Papers are Siddique and Sandhya Shetty. Siddique is saddled with LinkedIn-style njaanam on forgiving, forgetting, one being a human quality and the other divine (you get the picture?), that he dispenses to young Rahul who later quotes him as if it is ground-breaking wisdom worthy of being framed. Still, the senior actor’s gravitas, dignity and investment in his character are among the few bright spots in this superficial film. Sandhya, on the other hand, mistakes flatness for intensity and makes a bad film worse with her drab performance.

But wait, it goes further downhill. A plot twist at the end of Corona Papers is so silly that it threatens to erase even the good that Siddique has done in the film. Oh my Kurosawa!

Rating: 1.5 (out of 5 stars)  

This review was first published in April 2023 when Corona Papers was released in theatres. The film is now streaming on Disney+Hotstar.

Anna M.M. Vetticad is an award-winning journalist and author of The Adventures of an Intrepid Film Critic. She specialises in the intersection of cinema with feminist and other socio-political concerns. Twitter: @annavetticad, Instagram: @annammvetticad, Facebook: AnnaMMVetticadOfficial

Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News , India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ,  Twitter  and  Instagram .

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Corona Papers Malayalam Movie

Corona Papers is a 2023 Indian movie directed by Priyadarshan starring Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko, Gayathrie Shankar and Siddique. Music for the Movie is composed by MR Rajakrishnan.

Rahul, a newly appointed officer, accidentally loses his service pistol. What happens when it lands in the wrong hands?

Director: Priyadarshan Production Company: Four Frames Music Director: MR Rajakrishnan Cinematographer: Divakar S. Mani Editor: M. S. Ayyappan Nair Original Story Writer: Sree Ganesh Action Choregraphers: Rajasekhar, Ravi Thyagarajan

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Corona Papers

Corona Papers: Release Date, Trailer, Songs, Cast

• Release Date 6 April 2023
• Language Malayalam
• Genre Action, Drama, Thriller
• Duration 2h 35min
• Cast Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko, Sidhique, Jean Lal, Gayathrie Shankar, Sandhya Shetty, Maniyanpilla Raju, Vijilesh, PP Kunhikrishnan, Hannah Reji Koshy
• Director Priyadarshan
• Writer Sri Ganesh
• Cinematography Divakar Mani
• Producer Priyadarshan
• Production Four Frames Pictures
• Certificate U/A

About Corona Papers Movie (2023)

A police officer tries to bust a racket and accidentally loses his pistol, with the gun landing in the hands of a criminal on a killing spree. The official remake of 2007 Tamil film 8 Thottakkal.

Corona Papers Movie Cast, Release Date, Trailer, Songs and Ratings

Corona Papers Movie Trailer

Corona papers photos.

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Corona Papers Movie Review: Slightly improved, but flawed remake

Rating: ( 2.5 / 5).

One should remake a movie only if there is enough scope for improving the original. I can see why Priyadarshan chose to remake writer-director Sri Ganesh’s Tamil hit 8 Thottakal . It was a movie with enough absurd incidents going on in spite of its predominantly serious tone. One darkly comical situation involves a robber doing something in haste and risking all his accomplices’ lives. Another has a seasoned criminal failing to notice, for a long time, that his wife is cheating on him with one of his crew members.

Director: Priyadarshan

Cast: Shane Nigam, Siddique, Gayathrie Shankar, Shine Tom Chacko, Jean Paul Lal

We can find Priyadarshan juggling both dark and light elements in Corona Papers . One noticeable improvement is the darkness of 8 Thottakal taken down a couple of notches. Another major alteration is the characterisation of the protagonist, played by Vetri in the original and Shane Nigam in the remake.

In 8 Thottakal , Vetri played the character of a stone-faced cop—one of the film’s negatives which some chalked up to his traumatic backstory. In contrast, Shane’s character Rahul is more charming. It would suffice to say that, unlike his Tamil counterpart, Shane succeeds at putting some... life into his character’s face. He doesn’t have a traumatic backstory. He is just an ordinary policeman who loses his gun one day—an idea both films acknowledge borrowing from Akira Kurosawa’s 1949 film Stray Dog . There was an opportunity to do something similar here with Shane and Maniyanpillai Raju (in a cameo), but Priyadarshan doesn’t explore that. So, if you’ve seen Stray Dog, don’t expect a Toshiro Mifune-Takashi Shimura level of dynamic or performances in Corona Papers .

Performances. If there’s one thing that works in favour and against Corona Papers , it’s this aspect. The original version revealed, midway through the film, that its main events revolved around MS Bhaskar’s character, making him, in effect, the main character. Siddique plays that character in Corona Papers , and as always expected of the actor, he aces it. He has a dark backstory, though, the finale of which generates far-reaching repercussions. Just as he did with the young man’s character sketch, Priyadarshan makes minor tweaks to this senior man’s story and that of the supporting characters.

Priyadarshan gravitating to a story of this nature is unsurprising when we remember that he once did a film that revolved around a wronged man seeking vengeance (Nedumudi Venu in Vandhanam). Corona Papers is most gripping when it stays with Siddique, who plays his character with a mix of world-weariness and steely resolve. There are things he regrets doing due to situations that are out of his control, and he is ready to face the consequences.

Now that I think more of the comparisons between the two films, Corona Papers doesn’t follow all the events in 8 Thottakal to a T. But these improvements also bring forth new flaws. For example, Priyadarshan introduces a female cop with sinister intentions, Gracie (Sandhya Shetty). While this casting choice is interesting, it also turns out to be the main reason for its off-putting quality in multiple instances. Sandhya plays Gracie as an eminently campy villain. And not the enjoyable kind, mind you. Sandhya has reasons for doing what she does. She makes it clear that she is evil, pure and simple. But wasn’t there a different way to play this character? Instead of inspiring dread and menace, this performance often registers a comical effect. It also doesn’t help that all of Gracie’s fellow officers behave like cops we have seen in other movies.

And the less I say about Shine Tom Chacko, the better. Look, there’s no denying that he is a great actor, but seeing him get repetitive in every new movie is, to be frank, exhausting. When taking an inventory of all his recent performances post-Bheeshma Parvam, I see very little change in his performances. Costumes change, but performances? Aside from Siddique, one of the inspired casting choices in Corona Papers is Jean Paul Lal, apt as the impatient, restless thug who makes all the wrong moves and deservedly gets what’s coming to him.

Oddly enough, despite Priyadarshan’s interesting modifications to the original story, the film’s failure to make one emotionally invested and its inability to find a fittingly logical resolution to all its threads work heavily against it. Even having a talented cinematographer like Divakar Mani, who conjured up some immersive images in films such as Virata Parvam and Ninnila Ninnila, doesn’t really make the storytelling that palatable.

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‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’ Review: Michael Cera and Francesca Scorsese Lead a Holiday Movie That Will Keep You Warm All Year

David ehrlich.

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Like any Christmas film worth the time it took to wrap, Tyler Taormina’s wry but melancholy “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” has a bone-deep understanding of why all the best holidays are so painfully bittersweet: They bring the evanescence of our lives into focus, crystallizing the passage of time, while slowing it down just enough for us to appreciate how much of it has already melted into memory. Unlike the rest of its way too crowded genre, Taormina’s contribution has precious little interest in doing anything else. 

Instead of scenes, there are fleeting glimpses. Instead of drama, there’s wonderful production design. Sure, Toarmina includes a few legible character arcs and a handful of moments that evoke a casual relationship between cause and effect, but such things are ultimately just scaffolding to keep his massive cast from flying into each other whenever this snow globe of a movie turns their world upside down. Imagine the first act of “Fanny and Alexander” if Ingmar Bergman had been raised as part of a sprawling Italian family in suburban Long Island and you’ll be on the right track.

Like Bergman, Taormina makes nuanced use of his nostalgia. The lived-in level of pointillistic detail here is extraordinary, which proves key to a movie that’s plotted like an advent calendar. The majority of the action takes place in the kind of house so full that it makes everyone inside feel hopelessly alone; it’s the house where the four Balsano siblings grew up together, and where one of them still lives with their widowed and aging mom (at least for the time being). 

The grandkids play old video games in the basement, so as to enhance the movie’s atemporal timelessness (which is another way of saying that nobody owns an iPhone). A slow uncle sits at a player piano in the living room, while another brags about his job as a volunteer firefighter. The men smoke cigars outside, the women vibrate around the kitchen, and elderly Aunt Isabelle slumps asleep in her stairlift. Everyone is telling stories, and one of the adults is even writing one, though he’s too embarrassed to share his novel with anyone besides his favorite nephew. 

That effect is so palpable and instant that the movie is hardly two minutes old by the time it starts to feel like Taormina is belaboring the point, though it would be more accurate to say that such overindulgence is the point. “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” opens by dedicating itself “to the lost,” and hoping they might “find their way home on Christmas Eve,” and the film that follows is happy to act as a north star of sorts, guiding the audience back to the warmest hallows of their own memories, even if they aren’t Christian. 

Few of these details make a strong impression on their own, but all add their own little shimmer to Taormina’s kaleidoscopic reverie, and even the tedious ones help to recenter the fact that nothing lasts. That’s why we have traditions. And for a certain percentage of wistful Americans, this movie will likely become one of them. 

“Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. It is currently seeking U.S. distribution.

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‘Coma’ Review: A Labyrinthine Lockdown Movie

Bertrand Bonello’s latest horror film, dedicated to his teenage daughter, pushes the boundaries of the conventional pandemic movie.

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By Beatrice Loayza

“Coma,” a pandemic-themed horror movie by the director Bertrand Bonello, takes its title from one of its two cloistered characters living in France during the coronavirus lockdown. Patricia Coma (Julia Faure) is a social media influencer whose channel is made up of surreal how-to videos, philosophical monologues and weather reports (though it doesn’t matter, “you can’t go out, anyway,” she explains).

Watching Patricia is an unnamed teenage girl (Louise Labèque), moody and introspective as she spends her days in confinement glued to the screen.

Don’t be misled by the more conventional pandemic scenes, like the teenager’s video chats with friends — “Coma” pushes the boundaries of the so-called lockdown movie with its thrilling, chaotic form.

At first, it seemingly tracks the teenager’s online interactions: Patricia’s uncanny missives and a smutty sitcom played out by stop-motion dolls. We also see the teenager’s recurring nightmare, in which she’s trapped in a purgatorial forest, as well as surveillance footage in which she appears to be out in the streets.

With Bonello’s fluid editing, the gradual spillover between scenes and intrusions by reality itself — then-President Trump’s tweets play a role — seems to flatten time. That’s certainly become a cliché in films like “Locked Down” or Bo Burnham’s “Inside,” but Bonello’s experimental approach brings a new level of desperation to this compressed version of reality.

As a relatively short, minimalistic production, “Coma” plays like an amuse-bouche to Bonello’s recent epic “The Beast,” about the tragedy of characters who lack free will. Patricia is a kind of evangelist for this worldview. She sells an electronic memory game, like Simon, that the teenager plays to kill time, but, as if by some kind of dark magic, cannot seem to lose.

The film begins and ends with a subtitled message written by Bonello to his daughter, to whom he dedicated the film. It acknowledges the unique despair of her generation — of children accustomed to climate change and school shootings; their best years spent online, trapped at home during a global pandemic.

This message is also what makes “Coma” surpass the trappings of a lockdown movie: It may be anchored to that period, but it speaks to an existential crisis that defines many right now.

Coma Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 22 minutes. In theaters.

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