Singham of Malabar: My Quick take on Mohanlal’s “Marakkar – Lion of the Arabian Sea”
The long-awaited magnum opus of one of my favorite actors, "Lalettan," has finally been released in theaters. The movie was billed as one of the most expensive films from Malabar (100 crores or more), and it had already won a few National awards before its release, so how could I have missed it?
My spontaneous reaction after sitting through nearly 3 hours was as follows…
• National award for Best Costume Design – Yes, it was well deserved. Sibu Cyril, the production designer, deserves credit for recreating this 500-year-old era. Each frame in the film is a visual delight, with much inspiration drawn from Great Raja Ravi Varma's paintings, particularly the costumes and jewelry ware. Each frame appears to be a painting. The richness and opulence of Zamorin's durbar, the armor and weapons designed, the horse-drawn buggies, the soldier uniforms, everything was meticulously researched and designed down to the smallest details.
• National award for Special effects – Yes, it more than deserves it. Thank you, Rajamouli, for sowing this seed and making people think outside the box and creating something spectacular. There are two "paisa wasool" scenes in which you can applaud the Special Effects team. The first is the battle in the sea in which Marakkar takes on the mighty Portuguese Armada, and the second is the final battle scene on land in the climax. I can only watch the movie again for these two scenes.
• National award for the Best feature film – Here I beg to differ. I would have loved to see it get a Nargis Dutt Award for national integration instead. The plot is quite “secular” with a Muslim Naval commander under the Hindu King of Zamorin, fighting against the foreign invader (Portuguese). According to reports, there isn't much research on this great son of India, so the director (Priyadarshan) took creative license and created his own film version, which I believe is the film's main flaw.
The film's lack of a tighter script and overindulgence in subplots not only stretched it too thin, but also diluted the impact it should have had (Just watch 300 and its Sequel, how tight and well-executed script it was).
Despite the flaws of the overstretched screenplay, I enjoyed this film because the makers made an effort to tell us a story of valor of a great personality who put nation first; otherwise, I would not have known the heroics of this Inspiring Marakkar. In the same vein as Kesari and Tanhaji, we Indians should be aware of the stories of such heroes' sacrifices. Priyadarshan, please take a bow.
Mohanlal simply rocks, as does his son Pranav (who plays the teenage Marakkar). I also enjoyed the performances of Arjun Sarja and Nedumani Venu. Sunil Shetty did what he does best, which is act like a wooden prop, and Bulky Prabhu seemed misfit (or should I say overfit). The action scenes are good in spots, but the song and dance could have been avoided, however the BGM was impressive.
Watch it to pay tribute to this hero, and it will also inspire other filmmakers to tell us inspiring stories about Mother India's lesser-known heroes.
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