Mollywood director Jayaraj to make a film on 'Nipah' virus outbreak

National award-winning filmmaker Jayaraj is all set to make a Malayalam movie based on the recent Nipah virus outbreak which claimed the lives of 17 people in Kerala. The movie has been titled 'Roudram', and it will be the seventh movie of Jayaraj in the 'Navarasa' series.

Jayaraj announced the project during a press conference in Kozhikode to promote his sixth movie in the 'Navarasa' series 'Bayanakam'. It should be noted that Jayaraj had won the National Award in the best director category for his work in 'Bayanakam'.

During the press conference, Jayaraj revealed that he has travelled to Kozhikode to understand the fear caused by Nipah among local residents. The director made it clear that the real-life incidents, which happened in Kozhikode a couple of months ago, are very much suitable to make a movie based on the 'Roudra' emotion. The director is apparently planning to visit the affected areas once again to study more about the virus outbreak.

More details regarding the cast and crew of 'Roudram' is expected to be unveiled in the coming days.

Nipah virus outbreak was initially suspected in Kerala when a Kozhikode resident named Muhammed Sadique reported to a sub-divisional hospital on May 2. On the next day, his brother was also admitted to Baby Memorial hospital Kozhikode, and the doctors began to strongly suspect that a virus outbreak has hit the state.

Initially, it was suspected that bats were the transmitters of the disease. However, further tests conducted on National Institute of Virology Pune revealed that bats may not be the cause behind the outbreak. Even now, the real cause of the Nipah virus outbreak still remains a mystery.

To fight the outbreak, the Kerala government has imported M 102.4, a human monoclonal antibody for which clinical trials are still going on from Australia. On June 10, 2018, the health department in the state declared that the outbreak was over.