Priyadarshan and Mohanlal form arguably one of the most successful director-actor combos in Indian cinema. And, cinephiles across the country have waited too long for their magnum opus, Marakkar: Lion of the Arabia Sea. It was originally scheduled to release in March 2020. The film, “a collective dream” shared by the duo for over 20 years, is finally hitting the screens on December 2, across 3,300 screens worldwide.
“The dream of making a movie on Kunjali Marakkar—one of the first freedom fighters in our country, and certainly the first naval commander who fought Portuguese invasion—has been with us for more than two decades,” said Priyadarshan.
As per the available history, there were four Kunjali Marakkars, and it is believed that their bloodline ended with the fourth. “What I did was to take the basic thread of his story from a text I had learned when I was in school and give it my spin,” said the director.
It was during the shoot of Kalapani—a 1996 classic by the Priyadarshan-Mohanlal combo—that the idea of a film on Marakkar took birth. According to the director, the lack of ample historical writings was one reason that the film took these many years to become a reality.
“Another hurdle was the huge budget it required,” he said. “Also, the fact that almost half the story is set in the sea posed bigger challenges—we needed to recreate war galleys of the Portuguese and the battle sequences in the sea.” Sabu Cyril, art director of the movie, is said to have done a wonderful job in recreating the past, and the film set of Marakkar is now one of the most popular attractions in the Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad.
The film, which was made with a budget of Rs100 crore, boasts breath-taking visuals and graphics. It won three accolades–best feature film, best special effects and best costume—at the 67th National Film Awards. Siddharth, who won the award for special effects, is Priyadarshan’s son. “We are the first father-son duo to get national awards together. It was a proud moment,” he said.
Mohanlal said he considered it a blessing that he got to play a historic figure like Marakkar. “He was an expert navigator and that is the reason we have dubbed him the Lion of the Arabian Sea,” he said. “Marakkar is the story of a man who fought valiantly for the country and failed. Such stories also needed to be told.”
Covid-19 derailed the release schedule of the film. “We went through lots of ups and downs,” says Antony Perumbavoor, producer. The film’s release had courted controversy as there were rumours that it would be released on OTT platforms and not in theatres. Film exhibitors in Kerala, who had been waiting for a superstar movie to come out of the Covid-induced meltdown, opposed this move. Subsequently, the Kerala government got involved in the tussle, and finally it was decided that the movie would have a theatre release.
“This is a movie which has to be seen on the big screens,” says Perumbavoor. “As a producer, it was my dream to release it on the big screen despite the financial compulsions.” The film will be released on OTT platforms later.
When asked about the comparisons with S.S. Rajamouli’s Baahubali, Priyadarshan said: “Marakkar is on a scale bigger than Baahubali. The former was fiction, while this is history. We Indians are way behind others in celebrating our patriotic spirit, except in cricket stadiums. We must celebrate our heroes.”
He added that Marakkar’s secular character was a huge attraction for him. “He was a Muslim who fought under a Hindu king for our country,” said Priyadarshan. “Marakkar proved that love for one’s country is more important than love for one’s religion. He is someone every Indian, especially the Muslim community, would feel proud of.”