New Delhi: Film director Ram Gopal Varma had been busy during the lockdown. He made a full-fledged feature film. And you guessed it right — it’s on coronavirus, which is also its title. The trailer was released on YouTube Tuesday, which is trending at number 21 in India.
The director of ‘Sarkar’, ‘Rangeela’ and ‘Satya’ took to Twitter Tuesday to announce his latest venture claiming that it has been made during the nationwide coronavirus lockdown while strictly adhering to all the guidelines.
The four-minute trailer revolves around a family living together during the lockdown. Things turn murky when one of the household members starts showing symptoms of a flu. The film is made in Telugu and features actor Srikanth Iyengar.
The trailer reflects the sets of a horror movie with dark-themed lighting and eerie background score. However, Varma clarified that it is not a horror film but about “horrors which are inside all of us including our great political leaders and bureaucrats who actually know only as much as us which is just nothing”.
CORONAVIRUS is not a HORROR film. It is about the HORRORS which are inside all of us including our great political leaders and beaurecrauts who actually know only as much as us which is just nothing .”THE ONLY THING I KNOW IS THAT I KNOW NOTHING”-Socrates https://t.co/fun1Ed36Sn
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 26, 2020
Varma said while the rest of the industry people were busy doing household chores, he made a whole film.
When the rest of film people were SWEEPING FLOORS, COOKING FOOD ,WASHING UTENSILS , DRYING CLOTHES etc etc I MADE A FILM 💪💪💪 #CORONAVIRUSFILM https://t.co/fun1EdkIgX pic.twitter.com/i8ME1eyP4h
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 27, 2020
Varma also claimed that it will be the world’s first film on coronavirus.
MADE a feature film called “CORONAVIRUS” 👍it is shot entirely during LOCKDOWN Period💪. It will be WORLD’S FIRST FILM ON Coronavirus subject..Our actors and crew proved CREATIVITY cannot be LOCKED DOWN even in LOCKDOWN 🙏 Trailer tmrw 26th 5 PM #CORONAVIRUSFILM @shreyaset
— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) May 25, 2020
Many people on Twitter praised Varma’s new venture, including actor Amitabh Bachchan who has worked with him in multiple films including the ‘Sarkar’ series and ‘Nishabd’. Bachchan called him ‘irrepressible’ and shared the trailer on Twitter.
T 3544 – https://t.co/iO0Kftrxyy
The irrepressible Ram Gopal Varma, 'Ramu' to many .. 'Sarkaaar' to me .. makes an entire film about a family in Lockdown, shot during Lockdown ..
Titled : CORONAVIRUS .. perhaps the first film to be made on the virus ..
This be the TRAILER .. ✌️
— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) May 27, 2020
Self-proclaimed film critic Kamal R Khan too praised Varma’s efforts.
https://twitter.com/kamaalrkhan/status/1265331363466612743?s=20
Film exhibitor Akshaye Rathi said only Varma has the ‘keeda’ to pull off something like this.
There’s only one man on planet Earth who has the ‘keeda’ to pull off something like this. A film called #Corona, which has been shot during the lockdown period which has been imposed because of the #Coronavirus. @RGVzoomin https://t.co/k963VknjuV
— Akshaye Rathi / अक्षय राठी (@akshayerathi) May 27, 2020
The release date of the film is yet to be announced.
Also read: Bollywood is staring at ‘Rs 1,000-crore loss’ or more if 21-day lockdown is extended