Marakkar – Arabikadalinte Simham is a dream come true project: Mohanlal
Last day, the announcement of Mohanlal-Priyadarshan team’s movie based on Kunjali Marakkar’s life was made in an event held in Kochi. The movie titled as Marakkar – Arabikadalinte Simham is being planned on a huge canvas with a whopping budget of around Rs 100 crores. Mohanlal’s Aashirvad Cinemas will be funding the movie jointly with Dr Roy CJ’s Confident Group and Santhosh T Kuruvilla’s Moonshot Entertainment.
During the interaction with media persons gathered for the launch event, Mohanlal said Marakkar was a dream come true project. Priyadarshan and Mohanlal had been planning this movie for years now. The idea to make a movie on Kunjali Marakkar was first sowed by legendary scriptwriter T Damodaran. But they had to shelve the idea then due to the huge cost involved in production and the limitations of Malayalam film industry.
But now, the success of movies like Pulimurugan and the rising popularity of Malayalam movies outside the state has inspired the makers to go ahead with this ambitious project. Some of the leading technicians from India and abroad are expected to be associated with this project. Along with Mohanlal, top stars from other Indian film industries will be playing major roles in the movie. Besides them, British and Chinese actors will also be part of the movie.
Kunjali Marakkar was the title given to the naval chief in the 16th century, to protect the coast against the invading Portuguese army. There were four key Kunjali Marakkars during that era and Mohanlal will be seen playing one of them. According to Priyadarshan, the movie will be a semi-fictious one with bits of history and imagination.
As of now, the makers have planned to start shooting on Kerala Piravi Day (November 1), which will extend up to three months. Majority of the portions happen in the sea, so VFX works will consume a lot of time. Priyadarshan said that they will get an idea about the release date only after they enter the post-production phase. The movie will be dubbed in all major Indian languages and other foreign languages like Chinese and Arabic.
