01 April 2020 11:54 IST

Director of the film has written to the Film Chamber and Kerala government, hoping for their 58-member team to travel back

Filmmaker Blessy, the director of Malayalam actor Prithviraj Sukumaran’s next film Aadujeevitham, has written to the Film Chamber requesting help for their 58-member team from Jordan — where the shooting of their film was underway — and to ensure their return to India.

The team of Aadujeevitham, including Prithviraj and some of the other lead actors, had been filming their second schedule in Jordan's Wadi Rum the past few weeks, and had got permission from officials in Jordan to continue shooting into the second week of April. But after one of the Omani actors on the team was quarantined along with his translator, and with the coronavirus spread getting more severe, the Jordan government reversed its decision to allow the shooting to progress.

Now, the team of the film are stranded in the desert, and the Film Chamber has requested the Kerala government and Chief Minister’s office to help rescue them. Reportedly, Blessy also relayed the fact that the team had a concern on food shortage as well as growing threat of infection. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier enquired about the Aadujeevitham team via the Indian embassy in Jordan.

Earlier, Prithviraj Sukumaran had posted a note on social media, stating that they were continuing the shoot in Wadi Rum as all international flights operating in and out of Jordan had been cancelled, and since their location was only a few minutes outside their camp. He added that all medical and safety measures had been taken and that two of their actors were in precautionary quarantine as well.

Aadujeevitham (The Life of a Goat) is a survival, based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Benyamin. The film stars Prithviraj Sukumaran as Najeeb, an Indian immigrant worker in Saudi Arabia, who gets stranded in the middle of the desert. Resul Pookutty is the sound designer, A. Sreekar Prasad is the editor, and the cinematography is by K. U. Mohanan, with the soundtrack by A.R. Rahman.

The Aadujeevitham team had planned to shoot in Egypt as well after this schedule in Jordan with a 2021 release date in mind. However, it remains to be seen what will happen to the cast and crew stuck in Wadi Rum now.