Nalla Samayam: Omar Lulu withdraws his stoner film from theatres, says will decide next step based on legal verdict

Director Omar Lulu, on Monday, announced through his social media page that he is withdrawing his latest film Nalla Samayam from theatres. The movie courted controversy last week after a case was filed against the makers for allegedly promoting the use of psychoactive drug, MDMA aka Ecstasy.

The filmmaker took to his social media page to announce that they are pulling out Nalla Samayam from theatres and will look at the next step after the legal verdict. As soon as the trailer of the Irshad-starrer dropped online, Kozhikode excise inspector K Sudhakaran had filed a case alleging that the video showed scenes that promoted the use of MDMA, which is a banned drug. The case was filed under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

A cast from the movie, after its screening in Kochi, had also said that the drug was used by people known to the artiste. This too was shared widely on social media, with people pointing out how widely available the drug is in the State. The actress also said, “Should people watch films to be influenced to use drugs? People who use drugs will anyway use ‘M’. Why should I fear the police to say this?”

Omar, who has co-written the script, had earlier told OTTplay, “It’s a fun stoner movie that has elements of a thriller. We do touch upon the usage of MDMA and that’s how it lends itself to the stoner genre. We didn’t try to take the dark route with the use of drugs in the film.”

The director had previously helmed films such as Oru Adaar Love, Happy Wedding and Chunkzz. Nalla Samayam, which hit theatres on December 30 along with Malikappuram, has debutantes Meera Madhu, Nora Johan, Nandana Sahadevan, Gayathri Shankar and Suha as part of the cast, apart from Shalu Rahim, Sivaji Guruvayoor and Jayaraj Warrier.