Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021) on Netflix
In the late 1500s, Portugal and the kingdom of Kochi restrict Arab trade with a license system. Muhammad Ali, son of a Kozhikode commander, raids corrupt nobles and becomes Kunjali Marakkar.
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- Netflix2.9/5
- IMDb5.8/109,641 votes
- Rotten TomatoesNot available
Trailer
Plot summary
Late in the 1500s, Portugal allies with the kingdom of Kochi to colonize Malabar and imposes a license system that restricts Arab trade. Kuttiyali Marakkar and his son Pattu, onetime Kozhikode naval commanders, work as merchants who circumvent Portuguese customs. A raid on their family leaves Muhammad Ali and Pattu fugitives, blamed for a massacre they did not commit. They reach Ponnani, where the Kozhikode commanders Achuthan and Anandan are based. There Muhammad Ali recruits the bandit Thangudu, and when a nobleman hoards supplies meant for storm victims, the two take them and hand them out. Muhammad Ali takes the name Kunjali Marakkar.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea (2021)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Production designer Sabu Cyril took only ₹25 lakh as his fee for Marakkar, far less than his usual charge, out of love for the film.
- Four life-size ship replicas and a 200×200 metre water tank holding 150,000 litres were built at Ramoji Film City; the film was never shot at sea, and the storms and giant waves were entirely created with visual effects.
- Priyadarshan, Mohanlal and screenwriter T. Damodaran first planned a Kunjali Marakkar film in 1996, but it never got made in Damodaran's lifetime because the budget was unaffordable for a Malayalam film at the time.
- With little reliable history about the Marakkars, Priyadarshan filled the gaps himself; he said the screenplay was 30 percent history and 70 percent fiction, with Marakkar IV presented as a hero of a fairy tale.
- Production on Marakkar began with a budget of ₹100 crore, which made it the most expensive film ever made in Malayalam cinema at the time.
