With a case of Nipah virus confirmed in Kerala, there has been some uncertainty about the release of Aashiq Abu’s Virus this week.
Originally scheduled for release on June 7, the movie which deals with the Nipah outbreak in Kerala a year ago, comes at a time the virus has once again infected a man in Kochi. The Virus team has, however, confirmed that the release will be on June 7, as originally planned, since the movie can help spread awareness and reduce the panic. There has been a lot of discussion on social media on whether the movie should release at this point, when the lone case appears to have caused some fear in the state.
However, the state health department has reassured the people that there is no need to panic and that everything is in place to control the spread of the disease.
Aashiq’s movie, with an elaborate star cast, was announced last year, as one that will deal with the real life stories behind the Nipah outbreak, and the heroes who prevented it from spreading further. Rima Kallingal, who has co-produced the film with him, also plays an important role – as the real life nurse Lini, who died of the virus, days after she looked after the first of the patients who were infected. Veteran actor Revathy plays Health Minister KK Shailaja and Tovino Thomas plays Kozhikode Collector UV Jose. Kunchacko Boban, Parvathy, Poornima Indrajith, Soubin Shahir are all part of the cast.
Online discussions about the movie had raised some questions – if Virus would spread more panic or if it would scientifically explain things and reduce the scare. Aashiq and Rima waited to take the final call, but believing firmly that the film can actually help bring down the panic, they are going ahead with the release. They would have also found it difficult to change the international release date since it was fixed much earlier as an Eid release.