


ĭuring the late 1500s, the empire of Portugal allies with the kingdom of Kochi in Malabar, Kerala. The film was also shortlisted among with 35 other films for the Indian submissions for Best Feature Film category at the 94th Academy Awards. The film received mostly negative reviews from critics praising performances, cinematography, visual effects, but criticizing the editing, script, screenplay and dialogues. The film released theatrically worldwide on 2 December 2021. Meanwhile, at the 67th National Film Awards, the film won three awards- Best Feature Film, Best Special Effects, and Best Costume Design. It was then rescheduled and postponed through three more dates in March, May, and August 2021 before settling on release date by the end of the year. The film, originally scheduled to release on 19 March 2020, was delayed by the outbreak of COVID-19. The original score was composed by Rahul Raj, Ankit Suri and Lyell Evans Roeder and songs by Ronnie Raphael. Production began with a budget of ₹100 crore, making it the most expensive Malayalam film to date. Sabu Cyril and Siddharth Priyadarshan oversaw the production design and visual effects supervision, respectively. The sea was completely created using visual effects. Four life-size ship replicas were constructed and were shot inside a water tank. It lasted 104 days and post-production took 14 months. Principal photography took place from December 2018 to March 2019, filmed in sets created at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad. The final draft was completed by June 2018. He modelled it after a chapter he had learnt as a child in his grade three textbook and also incorporated input from Damodaran. Due to scarce documentation, contradicting accounts, and perspectives, he had to develop his own version of the character and events by synthesizing history, fiction, and folklore. Priyadarshan kept the project in mind for years, until in 2017 he proceeded with the research work. However, the film did not materialise in Damodaran's lifetime because of the high budget requirements, which was unaffordable for a Malayalam film at that time. The initial plan for a film based on the admirals Kunjali Marakkar started between Priyadarshan, Mohanlal, and screenwriter T. It is shot simultaneously in Malayalam and Tamil languages. Marakkar features an ensemble cast with Mohanlal in the title role and Pranav Mohanlal play Mohanlal's young role, alongside Arjun Sarja, Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh, Kalyani Priyadarshan, Nedumudi Venu, Siddique and Mukesh in supporting roles. The film is produced by Antony Perumbavoor's Aashirvad Cinemas. Priyadarshan scripted the film with Ani Sasi. Set in the 16th century Calicut, the film is based on the fourth Kunjali Marakkar named Muhammad Ali, the admiral of the fleet of the Zamorin. Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (titled Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham in Malayalam and Maraikkayar: Arabikadalin Singam in Tamil) is an Indian period drama action film directed by Priyadarshan.
