Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, also known as Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea, is an upcoming Indian Malayalam-language historical epic war film co-written and directed by Priyadarshan.Set in the 16th century, the film depicts the battle exploits of Kunjali Marakkar IV—the naval admiral of the Samoothiri. Kunjali Marakkars organised the first ever naval defense of the Indian coast by defending Portuguese invasion at the Malabar Coast for almost a century. The screenplay was co-written by Ani I. V. Sasi. The film was produced by Aashirvad Cinemas with Moonshot Entertainments and Confident Group as co-producers. It stars Mohanlal in the title role, along with Arjun, Suniel Shetty, Prabhu, Manju Warrier, Keerthy Suresh, Mukesh, Siddique, and Nedumudi Venu in supporting roles.
The film began principal photography in December 2018 and was concluded in March 2019, with the film shot at Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad. It had an year-long post-production work. With a budget of ?100 crore, Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham is the most expensive Malayalam film ever made. The film was originally scheduled for release on 26 March 2020, along with its dubbed version in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, and Hindi languages, But the release date was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
