The makers of Manju Warrier’s ChathurMukham have announced that the film will be withdrawn from all movie screens in Kerala. The decision comes a day after the state reported its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases at 22,257. Announcing the decision on social media, actor Manju Warrier who plays the lead in the film said that the decision was made after factoring in ‘the current situation and for everybody’s health’. “We will definitely be back in theatres for you when it is safer, hopefully very soon,” she added.
Manju announced the decision and thanked everyone for the love and support she received since the release of the film. “The kind of acceptance the film got from family audiences was much more than we expected. In 90 of the theatres, the film is running to full houses, and right now there is a need to be more alert with COVID-19 protocols in our state. Therefore with a bit of sadness we have decided to withdraw the film from all theatres,” she said.
Manju also added that the film would be released once the pandemic was in control and when public places would go back to being safe. “Follow the health instructions given by the state government and stay safe,” she added before signing off.
ChathurMukham, marketed as a techno-horror film, released in Kerala on April 8. The film has Manju Warrier and Sunny Wayne in the lead roles. Manju plays a social media and tech addict and Sunny plays her business partner and friend in the film.
The film is directed by Ranjeet Kamala Sankar and Salil V and is produced by Jiss Thomas and Justin Thomas under the banner of Jiss Toms Movies. It is jointly scripted by Anil Kurian and Abhayakumar. The film also features Niranjana Anoop, Shyamaprasad and Kalabhavan Prajod in important roles. Dawn Vincent is composing the tunes for the movie with Abinandhan Ramanujam working the camera and Manoj doing the editing.
The film had a 14-day run in Kerala’s theatres before makers announced that they were pulling out. The decision will lead to the film incurring a loss in revenue. It is also unclear if the film will release on OTT platforms in the interim.