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
