Aashiq Abu’s Virus wins Best Indian Feature Film Award!
‘Virus’, the medical-investigative thriller directed by Aashiq Abu continues to win laurels. The film has won the Best Indian Feature Film Award at Jagran Film Festival, Mumbai. Aashiq Abu and writers Muhsin Parai, Suhas and Sharfu attended the event. The 10th Jagran Film Festival, a four-day celebration of cinema was commenced last day. Bollywood stars Rahul Bose, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi, Divyendu Sharma, Radhika Apte and Kalki Koechlin and renowned film critic Rajeev Masand along with other dignitaries also attended the festival.
‘Virus’ is a semi-fictional account of how the state of Kerala withstood last year’s deadly Nipah virus scare. Writers Muhsin Parari, Suhas and Sharfu came up with what is easily one of the best written screenplays in recent years. The makers also pulled off a casting coup of sorts by assembling several top actors, who all did justice to their characters. Kunchacko Boban, Parvathy, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Poornima Indrajith, Asif Ali, Joju George, Rima Kallingal, Sreenath Bhasi, Madonna Sebastian and Soubin Shahir played major characters in the film.
Though there have been criticisms about the factuality in the story and how the government machinery’s role in the mission was not given prominence, ‘Virus’, from an aesthetic point of view, is a brilliantly made no-nonsense medical investigative thriller. After its release in legal streaming platform Amazon Prime, the film grabbed the attention of a large number of non-Malayali cine lovers. Last month, a special screening of ‘Virus’, which included a Q&A session with the makers was arranged by noted critic Anupama Chopra of Film Companion.
