Prabhu joins Marakkar – Arabikadalinte Simham team!
Pre-production works for Priyadarshan’s magnum opus Marakkar – Arabikadalinte Simham is currently on in full swing. The makers have been giving timely updates about the developments, the latest being the joining of veteran actor Prabhu. Though Prabhu is a Tamil actor, he is popular among the Malayali audience courtesy his performances in movies like Kalapani and Malayali Mamanu Vanakkam.
With Prabhu joining the team, Marakkar.. looks like a reunion of the Kalapani trio – him, Mohanlal and Priyadarshan. Sabu Cyril, the art director of Kalapani is handling the production design in Marakkar. Aashirvad Cinemas, Confident Group and Moonshot Entertainment are jointly funding this movie. A whopping budget of over Rs 100 crores is being invested on the movie, thus making it one of the most expensive movies that has ever been made in Malayalam cinema.
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. The story of Marakkar – Arabikadalinte Simham is reportedly based on the fourth Marakkar. His life apparently had the most interesting elements. According to director Priyadarshan, the movie will be a semi-fictious one with bits of history and imagination.
While Mohanlal plays the fourth Marakkar, veteran actor Madhu is playing the first among them, named Kutyali Marakkar. The makers are yet to announce details about the other cast members but rumours suggest that Nagarjuna, Suniel Shetty and Paresh Rawal are also being considered for the movie.
Priyadarshan is scripting the movie jointly with Ani Sasi, the younger son of legendary filmmaker IV Sasi. A couple of other writers are also part of the scripting team. For handling the cinematography, Priyadarshan has got the National award winning Tirru on board. The movie has been planned to go on floors on Kerala Piravi Day (November 1). Stay tuned to this space for more updates.
