It is chaos as usual at the Kozhikode Medical College when the first of the patients affected by an unknown new virus is brought in, showing strange symptoms of difficulty in breathing, nausea, vomiting. Young doctors on duty are perplexed till Nipah is suspected and later confirmed after checking with the Manipal Virology Institute. The story of Virus, the movie, has been as scary on the screen as it had been when it affected Kerala a year ago. The film is now streaming on Amazon Prime.
Aashiq Abu’s movie, consisting of an elaborate cast of stars uncomplainingly playing their divided short parts well on the screen, is mostly based on the real life heroes who fought off the deadly virus. The film released just at the time when a second occurrence of the virus was threatening to spread but was identified and contained after the very first case.
Actors Revathy, Parvathy, Kunchacko Boban, Rima Kallingal, Indrajith Sukumaran, Tovino Thomas, Sreenath Bhasi, Asif Ali, Joju George, Remya Nambeesan, Poornima Indrajith and others were part of the huge cast.
The streaming site also has a few other well-received Malayalam movies, Kumbalangi Nights, Ishq and Lucifer being three recent additions. Kumbalangi Nights, starring Fahadh Faasil, Soubin Shahir, Sreenath Bhasi, Anna Ben and others, turns toxic masculinity, often celebrated as heroism on screen, into the villain. The film was directed by Madhu C Narayanan. Ishq, directed by Anuraj Manohar and starring Shane Nigam and Ann Sheethal in the lead, had an interesting take on toxic masculinity. It also brought to light the pervasive moral policing in Kerala, though the method chosen by the male lead evoked mixed reactions. Lucifer, starring Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas and a host of others, was Prithviraj’s big directorial debut. The film, a political thriller, is an unabashed fan boy tribute to Mohanlal.