Actor Mammootty has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Malayalam superstar posted on Facebook that besides having a light fever he is fine. He is in home isolation. "Despite taking all the necessary precautions I have tested Covid Positive yesterday. Besides a light fever I am otherwise fine. I am self-isolating at home as per the directions of the concerned authorities. I wish for all of you to stay safe. Mask at all times and take the utmost care (sic)," Mammootty wrote on his Facebook page.
The actor, whose 70th birthday was celebrated by fans last September, had taken a year-long break from work when COVID-19 had broken out in March 2020. However, he returned to film shooting later on when the cases had come down and vaccinations began.
The actor was shooting for the fifth part of his CBI movie series, under the direction of K Madhu, when he came down with a cold and throat ache. Doctors have examined him and found no danger to his health, reports Manorama Online. The film will reportedly break its shooting for the next couple of weeks.
In the last two years when many films chose to have an online release on Over The Top platforms, Mammootty's movies were conspicuously absent. The star had waited for two of his anticipated films to have a theatrical release. The Priest and One came out in theatres in the beginning of 2021 when movie halls opened in Kerala after many months. He was lauded by producers and theatre owners who had not been pleased with movies moving into OTT platforms. However, movie theatres had again closed for months when the second wave of COVID-19 struck Kerala until they reopened again in November.
Amid all of it, there appeared reports of Mammootty’s newer films – a gangster film called Bheeshma Parvam by Amal Neerad, Puzhu starring Mammootty and Parvathy Thiruvothu directed by a newcomer called Ratheena, a Lijo Jose Pellissery film called Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam and of course CBI 5.