‘Corona Papers’ is a shift from my usual format, says Priyadarshan

Shift from the usual format

Ahead of the release, the film unit spoke to the media on Tuesday, 28 March. The veteran director said Corona Papers is a change from his usual genre of films.

Cast and crew of ‘Corona Papers’ addressing the media. (Supplied)

“Oppam was my first thriller movie. Corona Papers is my second thriller. I hope the audience will accept it. I used to cast a set of actors in my movies. But some of them died. Hence, I cast new actors in Corona Papers.”

“This (Corona Papers) doesn’t have Mohanlal, songs of MG Sreekumar and comedy. These factors themselves are a big change. The movie has a bunch of new actors and I completely leave the film for the judgement of the audience,” Priyadarshan said.

Priyadarshan made many films with Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. They are friends since childhood. MG Sreekumar rose to fame with the songs he composed for Priyadarshan’s flicks.

The veteran director announced that he won’t do comedy films in future. He opined that his comedy movies are more or less a copy of his old flicks.

Nothing new in Corona Papers

Priyadarshan said there is nothing new in Corona Papers and it’s the same old wine in a new bottle. The new bottle refers to the new actors.

PP Kunhikrishnan, who shot to fame with the magistrate character in Nna Taan Case Kodu, replaced actor Innocent who died on Sunday. Innocent couldn’t join the movie as he was not well during the shooting.

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Corona Papers is a film inspired by the Tamil movie 8 Thottakal directed by Sri Ganesh. Interestingly, 8 Thottakal is inspired by Akira Kurosawa’s Japanese film Stray Dog.

Priyadarshan said that he had the rights to the story of Stray Dog for a long time. “I couldn’t write the story then. It took some time for me to write the story in this new form. Twenty-five per cent of the story has been taken from the original story and this has been mentioned in the opening credits,” he added.

Mouth publicity plays an important role

Priyadarshan opined that mouth publicity is an important factor for the success of a movie. He pointed out films like Romancham and Jaya Jaya Jaya Jaya Hey which became megahits in Malayalam recently.

“Flop movies aren’t new to the Malayalam industry. I believe that even though there are good reviews and bad reviews, mouth publicity plays an important role in the success of a film,” the director said.

Stating that a movie will surely be a hit if the audience likes it, he said he hasn’t seen a director who has given only hits and hasn’t been liked by all.

Easy to make realistic films

Priyadarshan’s ‘Corona Papers’ in releasing on 6 April. (DirectorPriyadarshan/Facebook)

As regards realistic films, he said it is easy to make them but the difficult task is to make the audience clap inside the theatre. “I can say this because I have made realistic films and have proven to do such films.”

He shared that his real fear is when he thinks if the audience gets connected to the film as calculated by him while doing the movie. “I had the same fear when doing Corona Papers. I will have this fear till the release of the movie and I can sleep after that even if people like it or not.”

On a funny note, Priyadarshan said he is trying to sustain amid the rise of new filmmakers and actors. “I am thinking if I should stop making films. With four more, I will complete 100 films,” the master director said.

Reasons for failure

Priyadarshan directed over 30 Hindi films which are remakes of Malayalam ones.

Sharing his experience of doing remakes, he said the most important factor while remaking a film is that the Hindi audience shouldn’t feel that they are watching a movie from the south. If they feel so, the movie won’t work.

He cited Yeh Teraa Ghar Yeh Meraa Ghar and Doli Saja Ke Rakhna which are remakes of Sanmanasulavarku Samadhanam and Aniyathipravu respectively.

“These two movies were successful in Malayalam but didn’t work for the Hindi audience. After the failures of these films, I learnt this lesson that while remaking a movie, we have to give the impression that we are giving something new.”

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He said that Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a hit in Bollywood because Hindi audiences haven’t seen Mohanlal’s act in Manichitrathazhu (original version) and they appreciated Akshay Kumar’s role in the Hindi movie. Similarly, they haven’t seen Shobhana’s act in Manichithrathazhu and accepted Vidya Balan in such an avatar.

Malayalam films are content-oriented

According to Priyadarshan, Malayalam films are respected everywhere as they are content-oriented. He said his friends in Bollywood have seen some of the films like Home, which was critically acclaimed. “With the advent of OTT, there is a chance for people worldwide to watch Malayalam films.”

Veteran director Priyadarshan. (DirectorPriyadarshan/Facebook)

When asked why a movie like RRR is not made in Malayalam, Priyadarshan clarified: “Kerala has a small film industry and we have limitations to make films like RRR. Our industry can’t handle a movie like RRR. We have talented filmmakers who can make big-budget films, but money is a big factor here,” he added.

In Corona Papers, Shane Nigam dons the role of a policeman for the first time. The movie also features Shine Tom Chacko, Sidhique, and Jean Lal, son of actor Lal, in important roles.

Tamil actor Gayathrie Shankar, who debuted in Malayalam last year with Nna Thaan Case Kodu, plays the female lead. It also stars Sandhya Shetty, Maniyanpilla Raju, Vijilesh, PP, and Srikant Murali.

The movie is produced by Four Frames Sound Company. The cinematography is by Divakar Mani and the music is by KP.