The 58-member crew of Malayalam film Aadujeevitham, including director Blessy and lead actor Prithviraj, reached the Cochin International Airport at Nedumbassery here on Friday after being stranded in Jordan since March 16 following the COVID-19 outbreak.
They arrived in a special Air India flight AI 902 (Amman-Delhi-Kochi) as part of the second phase of the Union government’s ‘Vande Bharat’ initiative. The flight carried 187 Indian nationals, including the film crew.
The health authorities asked the crew to follow quarantine procedures after completing the mandatory medical check-up on arrival.
The shooting of the movie was progressing at the Wadi Rum desert when the global pandemic hit normal life.
Expressing relief over their safe return, Mr. Blessy said they were able to shoot crucial scenes involving Prithviraj after the authorities in Jordan eased restrictions by the last week of April. “However, we were not able to complete all the scenes planned there as a few actors were not able to reach Jordan following the cancellation of international flights. The pending work can be resumed only after the situation turns normal at the global level,” he said.
The filmmaker said that they were staying at a desert camp and had enough stock of food and other essentials. “The number of positive cases in Jordan is low compared to other countries. We were mostly indoors when the curfew was in place following the COVID-19 outbreak,” he said.
Aadujeevitham (Goat Days), based on the best-selling novel by writer Benyamin, narrates the real-life experience of a Gulf escapee in the 1990s.
The music is by A.R. Rahman. K.U. Mohanan is behind the camera and Oscar-winner Resul Pookutty is handling sound design.
