My Kunhali Marakkar will definitely happen: Santhosh Sivan

It looks like historical epics are all the rage in Malayalam cinema right now. Close on the heels of Odiyan's announcement, a slew of other big budget epics have been announced, two of which will feature the same character, Mohammed Ali, the naval chief of the Zamorin. It was announced yesterday that one of them will be helmed by Priyadarshan with Mohanlal playing Ali. The film is titled Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham.

Ali was the fourth naval chief of Zamorin to be conferred the title of Kunhali Marakkar after Kutti Ahmed Ali,  Kutti Pokker Ali, and Pattu Kunhali. It was famed cinematographer-director Santosh Sivan who first announced a Kunhali Marakkar project written by TP Rajeevan and Shankar Ramakrishnan, with Mammootty in the lead. However, production is yet to begin. Sivan had initially planned to begin shooting soon. But now that he and Mammootty are busy with other commitments, the project has been temporarily put on hold.

Cinema Express got in touch with Sivan to find out whether his film is still in development or cancelled.

"We have not started it yet. As of now, I’m a little busy with other projects. Intially they wanted me to photograph the film, but as I'm too busy, I had to decline. My Kunhali Marakkar project....it's not something you can start in a hurry. The planning is happening. It will take some time, but it will definitely happen. It's not like this story hasn't been done before. It's like the Mahabharata. Everyone has a different interpretation and a different perspective. It's just that everyone whom I want to work with right now are busy, including Mammootty. But it's not something that you can immediately jump into; it needs to be carefully planned. Both films won’t come out at the same time. Mine will come much later", says the multiple National Award winner.

The shoot of the Priyadarshan-Mohanlal film is expected to commence by November 1. Anthony Perumbavoor will be producing the project under the banner of Aashirvad Cinemas, while Santhosh T Kuruvilla and CJ Roy will be co-producing it.