Mohanlal’s period film Marakkar – Lion of the Arabian Sea (Marakkar: Arabikkadalinte Simham) will release in theatres on May 13. The Malayalam superstar tweeted the update on Sunday.
The movie was set to release in March 2020 but had to be postponed after the outbreak of COVID-19.
The film is directed by renowned filmmaker Priyadarshan and produced by Antony Perumbavoor’s Aashirvad Cinemas, Santhosh T Kuruvilla’s Confident Group and CJ Roy’s Moonshot Entertainment.
A star-studded film, apart from Mohanlal it also stars Manju Warrier, Suniel Shetty, Arjun Sarja, Prabhu, Paresh Rawal, Keerthy Suresh, Suhasini, Ashok Selvam, Pranav and Kalyani. The film’s cinematography is by Tirru and editing is by MS Ayyappan Nair.
The film is based on the real life story of Kunjali Marakkar IV, a Muslim naval chief of the Zamorin of Kozhikode who fought against the Portuguese in the 16th century. In February last year, the family of Kunjali Marakkar had filed a petition objecting to the depiction of the character as wearing an emblem of Lord Ganapathy while he was a Muslim.
When film theatres reopened in January with 50% occupancy, it appeared that all the big budget movies would wait to see the turnout in theatres before announcing release dates. Another much anticipated Mohanlal film – Drishyam 2, the sequel to his 2013 blockbuster of the same name – released online this month and received rave reviews. There were, however, disappointed fans who wanted the theatre experience. Distributors and theatre owners were also unhappy with the team’s decision to choose an online release. However, producer Antony Perumbavoor, who produced both Drishyam 2 and Marakkar, was clear that he would release the latter in theatres.
Last year in an interview to TNM, Priyadarshan said that they were in no hurry to release the film until the world returned to normalcy from the pandemic situation.
Watch: Trailer of Marakkar: Arabikkadalinte Simham