Top Kerala actor Prithviraj and award winning director Blessy and 56 others are stuck in Jordan after shooting of a movie was stopped there following restrictions in the wake of coronavirus crisis and have sought help to return home.
Blessy emailed the Kerala Film Chamber, seeking help to take up the case with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. The media came to know about the email on Wednesday. A chamber official Anil Thomas said the email has been forwarded to various lawmakers, including Malayalam superstar turned Rajya Sabha member Suresh Gopi.
Prithviraj too took to social media to post a long note of how the situation unfolded. He wrote: “Hello all. Hope everyone is holding up and doing their best to stay safe during these tough times On 24/03/2020, the shooting of Aadujeevitham in Jordan was temporarily stopped due to the prevailing circumstances. But after an appraisal of our situation, the authorities were convinced that our unit was isolated and operating safely within the confines of the Wadi Rum desert and we were given a go ahead for the shoot. Unfortunately, soon after, the prevailing restrictions in Jordan had to be further strengthened as a precautionary measure and as a result, our shoot permission was revoked on 27/03/2020 (he corrected it in his post caption). Following that, our team has been staying at he desert camp in Wadi Ram.
We have now been told that an immediate permission for shoot to resume is unlikely due to the situation and hence, our next best option would be to return to India at the first available opportunity.” He also mentioned that since they were to stay there till the second week of April, there have provisions for that. However, what would happen after that is a matter of concern, he added. He also said that while there were far more pressing concerns for the authorities to look into, it was their duty to keep them informed There were thousands of Indians waiting to return home, he added.
{{/usCountry}}We have now been told that an immediate permission for shoot to resume is unlikely due to the situation and hence, our next best option would be to return to India at the first available opportunity.” He also mentioned that since they were to stay there till the second week of April, there have provisions for that. However, what would happen after that is a matter of concern, he added. He also said that while there were far more pressing concerns for the authorities to look into, it was their duty to keep them informed There were thousands of Indians waiting to return home, he added.
{{/usCountry}}Prithviraj’s mother Malika Sukumaran, a yesteryear’s actress, said that she spoke to her son on Monday.
“He said the shooting has been stopped following strict restrictions imposed on account of Covid-19 in Jordan. The shooting was on in a desert. Things are fine with them, except that the shooting is not happening. They were supposed to wind up the Jordan part of the shoot next week and were scheduled to fly out to Algeria as per their original schedule,” said the actor’s mother.
Billed as one of the costliest Malayalam film ‘Aadujeevitham’ is based on the award winning eponymous Malayalam novel by Benyamin. It tells the tale of the life of a man ending up in shambles after reaching the Middle East and finds himself tending goats in extreme desert temperatures.
Blessy’s past films including his debut film in 2004 ‘Kaazcha’, ‘Thanmathra’ (2005) ‘Pranayam’ (2011) to name a few, all of which occupy a place of pride in the Malayalam film industry.
(With HT inputs)
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