Movie theatres opened across Kerala after six months this week, with the first film slated to release on the big screen on Wednesday, but the producer of Malayalam superstar Mohanlal’s National Award-winning film, ‘Marakkar: Lion of Arabian Sea’, is mulling a possible streaming release.
Speaking to the media, the film’s producer, Antony Perumbavoor, said he was exploring all options, including a possible web release for the Priyadarshan directed movie.
“See, this film has been long delayed and we just cannot afford to wait anymore,” Preumbavoor said. “We have talked with Amazon Prime. If the decision is made to go OTT [over-the-top or streaming platform] way, then there will not be any theatrical release,” he told the media.
At the 67th National Film Awards, which was held in New Delhi on Monday, ‘Marakkar, the Lion of Arabian Sea’ got three awards — Best Feature Film, Best Special Effects and Best Costume.
The film is centred around the life and times of Kunhali Marakkar, the famous naval chieftain of the Zamorin of Calicut, who is credited with organising the first naval defence of the Indian coast. Mohanlal, who’s known for his flexibility and adaptability to any character, plays the title role of Marakkar.
The star cast includes the thespian Madhu and Manju Warrier, besides Bollywood actor Suniel Shetty, and a host of British and Chinese actors.
With many producers unhappy with the new rules restricting the audience to 50 per cent of the seating capacity of each movie theatre, and with the Malayalam cinema audience getting used to streaming releases, there are many like Perumbavoor who are contemplating moving their releases to web.
