The idea behind Papanasam is a cash cow from filmmaker Jeethu Joseph. While he cashed in on the original Malayalam film, which was terrific for a Malayali like me, he also dressed as the writer for the Telugu and Kannada remakes and will also be donning the same cap for the Hindi release.

Sparing you further insight about the makers, the film works mostly because of its village setting, a family drama, and the suspense that grips its viewer for most of the 160 minutes. There are lots of things to think about here, starting from the ethics that surrounds a crime.

It will highly appeal to the Tamil audience, but if you are one of that guy who has already watched the original version or one of its two remakes, chances are that you will definitely compare the films. And the comparison will let you down.

BOTTOM LINE: Papanasam is of course a brilliant thriller, and it will look amazing if and only if you have not watched the original Malayalam film and you have not read the book The Devotion of Suspect X.

VERDICT: 5 stars out of 10. Watchable.