Corona Papers Review: Priyadarshan’s latest outing is technically sound with some thrilling moments

Director Priyadarshan has made films, mostly, of all genres in Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu. Corona Papers is his 96^th movie. But unlike his previous outings, the latest is a dark thriller.

The film casts a host of youngsters like Shane Nigam, Shine Tom Chacko, Jean Paul, Gayathrie Shankar, and Hannah Reji Koshy. Siddique and Maniyanpilla Raju are the only senior actors.

PP Kunhikrishnan, who became popular with his magistrate’s character in Nna Than Case Kodu, plays the role of a policeman here.

Set in the Covid period

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

As the name suggests, Corona Papers is set during the pandemic period. It deals with crimes that happened during the pandemic. However, there is a backstory that is set four years before the killings.

The backstory gives an idea of the behaviour of certain characters like the one played by Siddique, an honest police officer under suspension for a fake encounter case.

Siddique as Sankararaman alias Govindan has a key role to play in the movie. His transformation comes out really well. He proves his mettle as a versatile actor yet again.

Superintendent of Police Gracy’s (Sandhya Shetty) character is part of the backstory, too. She has negative shades.

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The director tries to portray the dark sides of the police department through Gracy. But we have seen many times before how most criminal cases are manipulated and fake encounters are carried out.

Shane Nigam’s Rahul is a police officer in the present day (Covid time). He loses his service revolver inside a bus when a small-time thief robs it. To make matters worse, the same revolver is used in a bank robbery in Kochi.

It’s a do-or-die situation for Rahul as he is under suspension for losing his service revolver. The consequences make the film an interesting and gripping watch.

Brilliant screenplay

Priyadarshan efficiently uses the pandemic period to write the screenplay for Corona Papers. The use of masks in public places and the difficulties faced by police to nab culprits during this period are all portrayed well.

The main characters join together at a certain point. There’s an interesting subplot where Pappachan (Shine Tom Chacko) and Tony (Jean Paul) are in love with Rani (Hannah Reji Koshy).

When Tony gets involved in a crime, Pappachan comes to know about the alleged relationship of his wife with Tony. However, revealing more details will be a spoiler.

A bank robbery, a service pistol, eight gunshots, and a fake encounter are some of the dots that get connected in the movie.

Performances

Siddique is the show stealer in Corona Papers.

Shane evolves as an actor. This is the first time he plays a cop (Rahul) and he does it right. His mannerisms and fight scenes are good.

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Shine Tom as Pappachan delivers good comedy. The tongue-twister scene gives away the essence of his character.

Jean Paul is decent as Tony, the henchman of Pappachan. Some of his scenes remind us of his celebrated actor-father Lal.

PP Kunhikrishnan as the cop with a negative shade (Appu Kuttan) is a big change from his previous role of magistrate. He shines as a crooked cop.

The female characters played by Gayathrie Shankar and Hannah are good.

Gayathrie as the budding journalist gets nothing much to do but she handles her character pretty well.

Sandhya Shetty as the SP gets a pivotal role. But her dialogues are dubbed and don’t go well with her acting. Otherwise, she is decent enough.

Technical crafts

Priyadarshan is known to be a master at capturing the scenes. Cinematographer Divakar AS deserves appreciation for his frames. They are apt for a dark thriller.

Aiyappan Nair’s editing is taut.

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Music director KP’s background score is an added advantage for the movie.

Overall, the movie is technically perfect. Some frames and some scenes seem to have been shot with special care.

Verdict

Corona Papers is a well-made dark thriller that has its moments.

It’s a comeback movie for director Priyadarshan who, this time, did the right thing by casting youngsters in lead roles instead of going with his regulars.

(Views expressed are personal.)