One of the most popular naval chiefs of the Zamorin, Kunjali Marakkar fought the Portuguese valiantly in the late 16th and the early 17th century. Two films on this hero have been announced and interestingly both the superstars in the Malayalam film industry are keen on playing Kunjali Marakkar.
While director Priyadarshan had announced a few months earlier that he would go on to direct Mohanlal in Kunjali Marakkar and that it would be a big budget project, producer Shaji Nadeshan also came out with the announcement that Mammootty and director Santosh Sivan will be collaborating for a movie on Kunjali Marakkar.
In his post on Facebook, he wrote, “Kunjali marrakkar pre production works in full swing! Shoot starts july 2018.”
It may be mentioned here that director Priyadarshan had said earlier that he would wait for eight months and if the Mammootty – Santosh Sivan project failed to materialise, he would go ahead with his.
Now, a Facebook post from music composer MG Sree Kumar says, “Our new film ‘KUNJALI MARAKKAR’ starts shortly. Please bless us. Love u all,” along with a pic of Mohanlal and Priyadarshan which makes it clear that the film is progressing at a brisk pace.
Being an historic film, a lot of research is going into it. With both the stars from the Malayalam film industry opting for the same subject, it could turn out to be a big box office clash if both the films are released on the same date.
At present, Mammootty as well as Mohanlal are busy with a number of projects on hands. While Mammootty’s Peranbu, Uncle and Parole are in different stages of production, Mohanlal has Odiyan and Neerali in his kitty apart from Kayamkulam Kochunni in which he plays a cameo while Nivin Pauly plays the title role.
(Content provided by Digital Native)