Mohanlal's Marakkar and Tovino Thomas' Kilometers release to be postponed due to coronavirus scare

The releases of Mohanlal's Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (MAS) and Tovino Thomas' Kilometers and Kilometers (KAK) are likely to be postponed, as the theatres in Kerala will be shut down till March 31 due to coronavirus scare.

The coronavirus outbreak spread to India on 30 January 2020 from China. Ever since been a total of 47 people were confirmed to be suffering from Covid-19 in the country. The first case was confirmed, but the Kerala government has been successful in keeping control on it being spread across the state. As a part of its preventive measures, the government has asked the theatre owners to shut down till March 31.

The experts say that the theatre owners are likely to obey the government's order. Film critic Sreedhar Pillai tweeted, "As theatres are bound to listen to the request made by the #Kerala government, all of them will shut down till March 31. Already most theatres have reported poor footfalls due to #Coronavid19 scare. Now the entire new release schedule will get postponed."

If the exhibitors shut down their theatres, the movies, which are scheduled for release in the next couple of weeks will have to be postponed. Kilometers and Kilometers and Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham are two big-ticket films, which are slated to hit the screens on March 12 and 26, respectively.

Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham is a historical epic war film co-written and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in the 16th century, the film is based on the battle exploits of Kunjali Marakkar IV—the naval chieftain of the Zamorin of Calicut. Produced with a whopping amount of Rs 100 crore, it is the most expensive Malayalam film ever made.

Kilometers and Kilometers is a comedy movie, which is written and directed by Jeo Baby. The film featuring Tovino Thomas in lead role is jointly produced by Ramshi Ahamed, Anto Joseph, Tovino Thomas, Sinu Sidharth under the banners of Anto Joseph Film Company and Ramshi Ahamed Productions.