Priyadarsan on the making of Malayalam cinema’s costliest film, ‘Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham’

Director Priyadarsan on re-creating the past for his Mohanlal-starrer ‘Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham’, releasing on December 2

Priyadarsan says Mohanlal-starrer Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, releasing in theatres on December 2, is his best in his career. In addition to Malayalam, it will be released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.

The epic saga had evoked waves of excitement right from the time it was announced in 2017. Exploits of Kunjali Marakkar IV, a naval warrior and adventurer, had fired the director’s imagination since he read about him in school. Completely contrasting accounts of Kunjali puzzled him.

“Revered by Arab traders and reviled by Portuguese sailors, Kunjali was a swashbuckling sailor and warrior who lived and died for his land. I came across an African proverb that says ‘Until the Lion learns to write, the story would always favour the hunter’. That explains why the Arabs put him on a pedestal while the Portuguese branded him a pirate.”