One of the widely acclaimed Malayalam films of 2017 was Mayaanadhi and its director Aashiq Abu has officially made an announcement about his next project which is titled Virus. The movie comes with an ensemble case that includes Aashiq Abu's actress-wife Rima Kallingal and they are Revathy, Aasif Ali, Tovino Thomas, Parvathy Thiruvoth, Kalidas Jeyaram, Remya Nambeesan, Soubhin Shahir, Dileep Pothan and Chemban Vinodh among others.
Though Aashiq has only said that Virus is based on true stories, there is a widespread speculation that the movie is based on the outbreak of Nipah Virus (NiV infection) in Kerala, that shook the state in the earlier months of 2018. The film is also said to be focussing on the death of Lini Puthussery, a 28 year old nurse who died while treating patients affected with the said deadly virus and has since been hailed a local hero.