Prithviraj
Sukumaran
and
Aashiq
Abu,
the
actor
and
filmmaker
announced
their
first
collaboration,
Variyamkunnan,
in
June
2020.
The
historical
drama,
which
is
based
on
the
life
of
historical
figure
Variyamkunnathu
Ahammed
Haji
had
sparked
a
lot
of
controversies
right
from
its
launch.
However,
both
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
and
Aashiq
Abu
have
now
backed
out
from
the
project.
If
the
reports
are
to
be
believed,
the
actor-director
duo
decided
to
withdraw
from
the
project
a
few
months
back.
Recently,
director
Aashiq
Abu
confirmed
the
news
and
stated
that
the
creative
differences
with
the
producers
are
the
reason
behind
his
exit
from
Variyamkunnan.
The
sources
suggest
that
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
also
exited
from
the
project
due
to
the
same
reason.
However,
the
grapevine
suggests
that
it
was
the
wide
cyber
attack
faced
by
Prithviraj
and
Aashiq
Abu
that
led
to
the
duo's
withdrawal
from
the
project.
Both
the
actor
and
director
were
brutally
attacked
by
a
group
of
netizens,
who
believed
that
Variyamkunnan
might
whitewash
Variyamkunnathu
Ahammed
Haji,
who
was
the
leader
of
the
Malabar
Mappila
Lahala
of
1921.
The
cyberattack
went
to
an
extent
where
even
the
family
members
of
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
had
to
face
cyber
bullying.
Later
in
July
2020,
Ramees,
who
was
one
of
the
writers
of
Variyamkunnan,
had
exited
from
the
project.
The
writer
decided
to
withdraw
from
the
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
starrer
after
he
was
called
out
by
the
netizens
for
his
fiercely
political
and
extremely
misogynistic
social
media
posts
from
the
past
five
to
six
years.
Coming
to
Variyamkunnan,
the
project
was
originally
supposed
to
be
directed
by
Anwar
Rasheed,
with
the
National
award-winning
actor
Chiyaan
Vikram
playing
the
lead
role.
However,
things
didn't
materialise
due
to
both
Anwar
and
Vikram's
unavailability.
Later,
Aashiq
Abu
took
over
the
project
and
Prithviraj
Sukumaran
was
roped
in
to
play
the
titular
role.
If
the
reports
are
to
be
believed,
the
much-awaited
project
might
get
shelved,
owing
to
the
actor-director
duo's
exit.