''Virus'' is a 2019 Indian

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-language medical thriller film co-produced and directed by

Aashiq Abu Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian film director, producer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. He is best known for his films such as '' Daddy Cool'' (2009), ''Salt N' Pepper'' (2011), '' 22 Female Kottayam'' (201 ...

set against the backdrop of the 2018 Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala. The film was written by

Muhsin Parari Muhsin Parari is an Indian film director, writer and lyricist, who works in Malayalam films. Career He started his career by directing the music album ''Native Bapa'' (2012), in which actor Mamukkoya played the lead. He worked as assistant di ...

and

Suhas-Sharfu Suhas and Sharfu are an Indian screenwriter duo working in Malayalam cinema. They wrote a total of five films, beginning with ''Varathan'' in 2018. Career They were both engineers before their film careers and met through the short film netwo ...

. It stars an

ensemble cast In a dramatic production, an ensemble cast is one that is composed of multiple principal actors and performers who are typically assigned roughly equal amounts of screen time.Random House: ensemble acting Linked 2013-07-17 Structure In contrast to ...

that includes

Kunchacko Boban Kunchacko Boban (born 2 November 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer. Sometimes referred to as Chackochan, he works in the Malayalam film industry and has acted in more than 90 films in more than two decades. He is a member of the List ...

Tovino Thomas Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who prominently works in Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films ''ABCD'' (2013), '' 7t ...

, Asif Ali,

Parvathy Thiruvothu Parvathy Thiruvothu Kottuvattaa (born 7 April 1988) is an Indian actress who predominantly appears in Malayalam and Tamil language films. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards South, and two Kerala State Film Award ...

, Rahman,

Indrajith Sukumaran Indrajith Sukumaran (born 17 December 1978) is an Indian actor and singer. He predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. Indrajith was born to the actors Sukumaran and Mallika Sukumaran and is the elder brother of Prithviraj Sukumaran. Indrajit ...

Indrans Indrans is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films.His mentor was Shiyas M S, a law college student. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the ...

Jinu Joseph Jinu Joseph (born 21 December 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He is better known for his roles in ''Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'', ''Chaappa Kurishu'', ''Bachelor Party'', ''Ustad Hotel'', ''Iyobinte Pusthakam'', ''Rani P ...

, Sreenath Bhasi,

Dileesh Pothan Dileesh Philip (born 19 February 1980), also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film '' Maheshinte Prathikaaram'', st ...

Rima Kallingal Rima Kallingal is an Indian actress and film producer who mainly appears in Malayalam films. She made her Malayalam film debut with '' Ritu'' (2009). She married to the Malayalam film director Aashiq Abu in 2013. Early Life and Career Born in Th ...

, Madonna Sebastian,

Ramya Nambeeshan Remya Nambeesan (born 24 March 1986) is an Indian actress, playback singer and dancer, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. She started her career as an actress through the 2000 film ''Sayahnam''. She has acted in more than 65 films includi ...

Joju George Joseph George, better known as Joju George (born 22 October 1977) is an Indian actor, playback singer and producer who works mainly in Malayalam cinema. He has acted in Malayalam films and worked on Tamil projects as well. In 2015, he won the ...

Soubin Shahir Soubin Shahir (born 12 October 1983) is an Indian actor and director who works in Malayalam cinema. He began his film career as an assistant director in 2003 and worked under several directors. Soubin made his acting debut in 2013 with a suppo ...

and

Revathi Asha Kelunni Nair (born 8 July 1966), better known by her stage name Revathi, is an Indian actress and director, known for her works predominantly in Tamil & Malayalam cinema - in addition to Telugu, Hindi & Kannada films. She has won several ...

. Principal photography took place from January to February 2019 in a single schedule shot extensively in

Government Medical College, Kozhikode Government Medical College, Kozhikode, also known as Calicut Medical College (CMC), is a school of medicine in Kozhikode (formerly Calicut) in the Indian state of Kerala. The college was established in 1957 as the second medical college in K ...

and Government Homoeopathic Medical College, Kozhikode . The film was released worldwide on 7 June 2019, receiving critical acclaim and was a box office success. It was included in

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade.

Plot

A man named Zakariya Mohammed is infected and brought to the

, where he suffers from the symptoms of an unknown virus and, after a few hours, dies. Geetha, who was taking Zakariya's CT scan, got infected by the virus. As nurses and doctors checked her blood pressure, the scale was going up and down which left the doctors there worried and confused. A nurse Akhila who treated Zakariya gets affected too. Slowly more cases are identified in the surrounding areas. Dr. Salim (a neurologist) while checking on Zakariya's father, Razak, notices symptoms related to poisoning and Japanese encephalitis and other such infections on Razak. Dr. Salim also asked Dr. Suresh Rajan to conduct a sample test for Nipah virus. The samples were collected from Suhana, sister of Zakariya. As the death toll begins to rise, Dr. Suresh Babu confirms the unknown virus to be Nipah. Nipah spreads across Kozhikode and the neighbouring districts. Sister Akhila (the nurse who treated Zakariya), dies after a long battle with the virus and before she died, she wrote a letter to her husband. The film progresses with real life experiences of people who we are aware of when it has happened and also creates a backstory for each affected patient and generates an interest in the narration. In an emergency situation, a team of medical practitioners and healthcare professionals, led by the

Health Minister A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental health. Count ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

C. K. Prameela and District Collector Paul V. Abraham IAS, camp in Kozhikode to tackle the crisis. There is an attempt made to justify that this is not a bio-weapon used by any country or organisation. While the film is ending, the film pays tribute to scientists, medical professionals, hospital staff, volunteers and the people who came forward to support the team to solve the virus attack. Health minister, C. K. Prameela announces Kozhikode Nipah virus free. In the end, it is shown that Zakariya saw a

flying fox ''Pteropus'' (suborder Yinpterochiroptera) is a genus of megabats which are among the largest bats in the world. They are commonly known as fruit bats or flying foxes, among other colloquial names. They live in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Aust ...

(a breed of bats) that was on the ground. He went there and before coming in contact with the bat, he took a picture of the bat for his Instagram story.

Cast

as Dr. Suresh Rajan, Chief doctor *

as Dr. Baburaj *

as Paul V Abraham

IAS IAS may refer to: Science * Institute for Advanced Study, in Princeton, New Jersey, United States * Image Analysis & Stereology, the official journal of the International Society for Stereology & Image Analysis. * Iowa Archeological Society, Uni ...

district collector A District Collector-cum-District Magistrate (also known as Deputy Commissioner in some states) is an All India Service officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre who is responsible for ''land revenue collection'', ''canal reven ...

(Character based on Seeram Sambasiva Rao) *

as Dr. Annu * Asif Ali as Vishnu Bhaskaran *

as C. K. Prameela, Minister of Health & Social Welfare (Character based on

K. K. Shailaja K. K. Shailaja (born 20 November 1956) is an Indian politician and former Health Minister of Kerala who hails from Kannur district. Shailaja currently serves as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) representing Mattanur constituency ...

) *

Poornima Indrajith Poornima Indrajith ( née Poornima Mohan; born 13 December) is an Indian actress and television presenter who works in mainly in Malayalam cinema. Apart from that, she is a fashion designer. She is married to actor Indrajith Sukumaran. Early ...

as Dr. Smrithy Bhaskar, Director of Health Services * Rahman as Dr. Salim *

as Nurse Akhila (Character based on Sister Lini Puthussery) *

Sharaf U Dheen Sharafudheen, professionally credited as Sharaf U Dheen, is an Indian actor who appears in Malayalam films. He made his acting debut in 2013 with ''Neram''. He got his breakthrough by portraying the role of ''Girirajan Kozhi'' in ''Premam'' (20 ...

as Sandeep, husband of Akhila * Zakariya Mohammed as Zakariya, the first patient *

as Razak, father of Zakariya *

Savithri Sreedharan Savithri Sreedharan is an Indian theatre and film actress. She has been a part of several Calicut-based theatre groups for over forty years and made her film debut in 2018 in the film ''Sudani from Nigeria'' which earned her a Special Mention a ...

as Jameela, mother of Zakariya * Sreenath Bhasi as Dr. Abid Rahman *

as Dr. John Jacob, Dr Annu's husband * Srikant Murali as Dr. Moopan *

Senthil Krishna Senthil Krishna is an Indian actor known for roles in Malayalam films and Television. He had the lead role in the film Chalakkudykkaran Changathy. Personal life He married Akhila from Calicut on 24 August 2019 at Guruvayoor Sreekrishna Temple ...

as Excise Minister CP Bhaskaran (Character based on

T. P. Ramakrishnan T. P. Ramakrishnan is an Indian politician from the state of Kerala. He started his political work through ''Kerala Students Federation''. At present, he served as the Minister for Excise and Labour in the first Pinarayi Vijayan ministry. Ach ...

) *

as Babu (Attender) *

as Prakashan, traffic police Constable * Madonna Sebastian as Dr. Sara Yakub, a survivor and also Dr. Abid Rahman's lover *

Remya Nambeeshan Remya Nambeesan (born 24 March 1986) is an Indian actress, playback singer and dancer, who primarily works in Malayalam cinema. She started her career as an actress through the 2000 film ''Sayahnam''. She has acted in more than 65 films includi ...

as Raji, Babu's wife *

Basil Joseph Basil Joseph (born 28 April 1990) is an Indian film director and actor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He directed three films, ''Kunjiramayanam'' (2015), ''Godha'' (2017) and ''Minnal Murali'' (2021). All three films were a huge suc ...

as Dr. Mithu *

as Unnikrishnan *

Zeenath Zeenath A.P is an Indian actress and dubbing artist. She was a prominent supporting actress during the 1990s in Malayalam films. Background Zeenath was born to Abu Achippuram and Fathima in Nilambur, Malappuram district. She had her primary ed ...

as Nurse Akhila's mother * Sudheesh as Radhakrishnan Health Inspector, Public health department * Vettukili Prakash as Sadashivan (ambulance driver) *

Sajitha Madathil Sajitha Madathil is an Indian film and theatre actor. Her performance in Joy Mathew's feature film '' Shutter'' (2012) won her the State film award for second best actress. She is the head of the department of Acting at the K. R. Narayanan N ...

as Dr. Sreedevi *

Sarasa Balussery Sarasa Balussery is a stage actress in Kerala and a film actress in Malayalam cinema. Her films include ''Sudani from Nigeria'' (2018), ''Virus'' (2019), '' Thirike'' (2021) and ''Dakini'' (2018). She became more popular after she was cast i ...

as Khadeeja *

Binu Pappu ''Binu Pappu'' (born December 13, 1982), is an Indian actor and assistant director primarily working in the Malayalam movie industry. He is the son of legendary actor Kuthiravattam Pappu. He is mainly noted for his performances in the movies He ...

as Dr.Sudevan *

Nilambur Ayisha Nilambur Ayisha is an Indian actress in Malayalam movies. She started her career as a theater artist. Later she became a supporting actress in the Malayalam movies in late 1960s and 1970s. She has acted in more than 50 movies. She was the first ...

as Application Agent at Medical College *

Darshana Rajendran Darshana Rajendran is an Indian actress who works predominantly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries. Darshana debuted her acting career in the 2014 Malayalam film ''John Paul Vaathil Thurakkunnu''. She then acted in '' Mayanadhi'' directe ...

as Anjali Vasudevan, Vishnu's Wife *

Unnimaya Prasad Unnimaya Prasad (Malayalam: ഉണ്ണിമായ പ്രസാദ്) is an Indian actress, assistant director and producer who works in Malayalam cinema. She worked as the casting director of '' Maheshinte Prathikaram'' (2016), and as as ...

as Dr. Nirmala *Lukman Avaran as Dr. Sajith * Haris Saleem as Dr. Haris *

Leona Lishoy Leona Lishoy is an Indian actress and model who is known for her works primarily in Malayalam cinema. She is the daughter of Malayalam actor Lishoy. Personal life Leona is the daughter of Malayalam movie and television actor Lishoy. She did ...

as Paul's Wife *

Shebin Benson Shebin Benson (born 27 November 1995) is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Malayalam films. Shebin made his debut in Aashiq Abu movie '' Idukki Gold'' in 2013, Later he appeared in Mammootty starrer Varsham. His first movie as a male ...

as Yahiya, Zakariya's brother *Kozhikode Jayaraj as Nasar, Zakariya's uncle *

Sreedevi Unni Sreedevi Unni is an Indian Mohiniyattam, Mohiniyattam dancer and actress best known for her work in the Malayalam cinema and TV serials. She is the mother of Monisha Unni. Filmography TV serials Albums * Ammakkayi * Thilodakam TV Show ...

as Dr. Abid's mother *Anjali as Suhana *Ann Saleem as Haifa *Divya Gopinath as Geetha, attender at Radiology dept. *Ambika Rao as Head nurse *Ramesh Kottayam as Medical College Superintendent *Jolly Chirayath as Pradeep's mother *Sundar Pandyan as Grade 4 Cleaning Staff *Noushad Ali as Vipin *

Dileesh Nair Dileesh Nair (born 23 July 1981) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He started out as a 2D animator. He made his script writing debut with ''Salt N' Pepper'' (2011) along with Syam Pushkaran. He debuted ...

as Shanthan Vaidyar *Neeraja Rajendran as Unnikrishnan's mother *Ajayan Adat as Vipin's friend *Vaisakh Shankar as Vaisakh Nair *Preethi Nambiar as Preethy Varma *Deepa Thomas as Junior Doctor *Abhilash Mohanan as Himself (news reader) *Shani Prabhakaran as Herself (news reader) *Vivek Varrier as House surgeon *Sidheeque N/ as Cameo Appearance (Cameraman)

Production

The film is based on the 2018 Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala. Principal photography began in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

on 6 January 2019,

Kalidas Jayaram Kalidas Jayaram (born 16 December 1993) is an Indian actor who predominantly appears in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Tamil cinema, Tamil films. The son of film actors Jayaram and Parvathy Jayaram, Parvathy, Kalidas made his debut in the Mal ...

was supposed to appear in the film in a supporting but pivotal role, but was replaced by Sreenath Bhasi after the former did not ultimately accept it. ''Virus'' was shot extensively in and around

. Filming wrapped on 26 February 2019 after 52 days shoot in a single schedule.

Soundtrack

The original soundtrack is composed, programmed, and arranged by Sushin Shyam. The film features a promotional song titled "Spread Love" sung by Shelton Pinheiro, Madonna Sebastian,

and Sushin Shyam, which was not included in the film, but was listed in the original soundtrack album, which features 17 instrumental numbers, which released on 17 May 2019.

Release

The film was released worldwide on 7 June 2019. The film dubbed in Tamil and Telugu as Virus and Nipah Virus released on Zee5 and Aha respectively.

Reception

Box office

The film grossed ₹3.9

crore A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...

in the opening weekend (7 – 9 June) from

box office. It collected a worldwide total of over ₹15 crore in 12 days, with ₹11.74 crore from Kerala alone. By collecting $65,000 in 10 days from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, ''Virus'' became the fourth highest-grossing Malayalam film of 2019 in the US, behind ''

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

'', ''

Kumbalangi Nights ''Kumbalangi Nights'' is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed by Madhu C. Narayanan. The directorial debut was written by Syam Pushkaran and jointly produced by Fahadh Faasil and Nazriya Nazim under their production house Fa ...

'', and ''

Uyare ''Uyare'' () is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language thriller film directed by Manu Ashokan (in his directorial debut), written by Bobby & Sanjay and produced by the sister-trio Shenuga, Shegna, and Sherga. The film stars Parvathy Thiruvothu, As ...

''. And as of 21 June, it is also the fourth highest-grossing Malayalam film of 2019 in the rest-of-India territories, behind ''Lucifer'', ''Kumbalangi Nights'', and ''Uyare''. It earned ₹2,60,058 in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

from 18 shows in the opening weekend, and ₹4,82,715 in two weeks. In the opening weekend, the film grossed $342,527 from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

(UAE) and $9,098 from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. It grossed €2,749 (₹2.16 lakh) in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in two weeks. The film was released a week later (on 14 June) in the United Kingdom and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

where it collected £14,991 (₹13.2 lakh) and NZ$12,409 (₹5.65 lakh) in the opening weekend, and £28,809 (₹25.56 lakh) and NZ$16,099 (₹7.4 lakh) in two weeks. In three weeks, it collected A$23,868 (₹11.56 lakh) in Australia and $587,960 in the UAE. In the US, it made $68,244 (47.13 lakh) in four weeks.

Critical reception

Sowmya Rajendran of ''

The News Minute ''The News Minute'' is an Indian digital news platform based in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Dhanya Rajendran, Chitra Subramaniam and Vignesh Vellore in 2014. Apart from Karnataka, it also has bureaus in the states of Telangana, And ...

'' called the movie, "A compassionate, gripping medical thriller" and rated it 4/5 stars. Meera Manu of

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

rated the movie 4/5 stars and said, "For its 152-minute duration, Virus will take you through many emotional roller-coasters. This one is contagious enough to make you skip a heartbeat or evoking tears. It's more than just a film, it's humans joining hands to beat a deadly disease. No reason to not watch this one." Manu of the Filmibeat rated the movie 4/5 stars and reviewed, "Virus is a mind-blowing movie and as its tagline says it rightly conveys the fear, fight and the survival during the Nipah outbreak. A well-crafted movie, which could be ranked as one among the best movies of all-time. Kudos to the team." Anjana George of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' rated the movie 3.5/5 stars and reviewed, "On the whole, the film can be called as a well-crafted multi-starrer, fictional documentation of news reports on the Nipah virus attack that shocked Kerala and still looms over us." Behindwoods rated the movie 3.25/5 stars and wrote, "With Virus, Aashiq Abu cements his top form as a filmmaker. Overall, Virus is a straightforward, detailed and uncompromising retelling of an unbelievable story of humanity."

Accolades

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 8941440 2019 thriller drama films 2010s Malayalam-language films Films scored by Sushin Shyam Indian thriller drama films Films shot in Kozhikode Indian films based on actual events Medical-themed films Films about viral outbreaks 2019 drama films Films directed by Aashiq Abu