Actor Neeraj Madhav, in an emotional Facebook post, said that fake news about the corona virus had affected the collection of his latest movie Gauthamante Radham. He added that his movie would survive for just a day more as some of the big movies releases this Friday. He hopes for a miracle where a few houseful shows could help the movie financially.
Neeraj begins his post by saying that Gauthamante Radham was receiving good reviews from the audience. He said that though the collections were good on the weekend, the number of people turning up at the movies dropped significantly from Monday onwards. A few shows were called off too. “When we enquired about it, we understood that people are worried after hearing the news about the corona virus. On top of that, some people had created panic among the public by spreading fake news about the disease. I am aware about the seriousness of this issue. However, the government has instructed to be alert but not to panic. It is a personal decision whether you should go to the theater to watch the movie or not,” wrote the actor.
Neeraj wrote the he had worked really hard to make this movie happen as he is making a comeback to Malayalam after a break. Not many know that he had been doing a Hindi web series in the meantime. “There are people who said that I am out of the industry. Meanwhile, some others even tried to dissuade our producer from financing this film. But, he trusted us and stood with us. He said, with a smile, that he would think about the satellite rights after the movie releases,” says Neeraj.
The actor recalls how the entire crew was excited last Friday when the movie opened to packed theaters. However, this week, they are worried whether the movie would be in the theaters at all. “This Friday, there are a few bigger releases. If a miracle happens where we could get a few houseful shows or if the theater owners are kind enough, we could survive. Or, you could watch the movie on TV or on your mobile phones or laptops and then share your opinion with me. However, I am extremely sad that I couldn’t do justice to a producer who stood with us for the sake of good cinema. This is not anyone’s fault. I have no complaints too. But, even at this last moment, you could help us by watching the movie in the theaters. I hope that the producer at least gets back whatever he has spent. Let the Malayalam cinema succeed always. Thank you!” concludes Neeraj Madhav.
