User Reviews

Marakkar Lion Of The Arabian Sea (2021) : Brief Review -

The IQ Level of National Award Juries must be lower than the Temperature during Winter Season In India. I actually don't care about award shows, not just Indian but also International ones. I even have problems with Oscars (please note I have seen all 93 Oscar winners films to say that). When Marakkar won National Award, it didn't excite me at all. Only two reasons for me to watch this film were Mohanlal and Malayalam cinema's attempt to make a visual granduer. There are hardly few legendary films made in this genre, the best remains Oru Vadakkan Veeragatha (1989), and now after watching Marakkar I can easily say that Malayalam cinema will never be able to make a magnum opus like that. Marakkar is grand, it has big structure but lacks soul. Priyadarshan terribly mediocre vision has caused heavy collapse. I found it interesting for like two hours, everything was looking decent, but then the last hour spoiled the party. The climax was damn outdated. Even 80s ans 90s' Malayalam films had better cliches than this. Offtrack Mohanlal struggles but somehow survives. For me, this man is the biggest legend from Mollywood. He has given so many cult films and outstanding performances during his prime phase- Late 80s, 90s and 00s. To watch him doing hardcore action in classic films like 'Keeradam' 'Yodha' 'Spadikam', 'Kala Paani', 'Aaraam Thapuran' was an experience, but watching him doing action at this age with such physics didn't look suitable. Priyadarshan just did not care about the outcome, he just made for his own sake. However, Marakkar is not a headache, it's a decent film but the kind of undeserving hype they created deserved some heavy slaughtering and that's what I've tried to do. Overall, strictly average. Grand but not Good. Somewhat interesting but not fascinating.

RATING - 5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

Don't expect much from this filim, watch it like a epic movie a real life story without adding any extra items they ve presented well,if u want a movie like kgf or Bahubali don't go for this one u will be disappointed acting of pranv Mohanlal is superb 🔥

Overview: "Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham" is a cinematic spectacle that boasts intense action sequences, commendable performances, and a storyline that, while thin, serves as a backdrop for the film's visual grandeur.

Visuals: The film's visual composition is nothing short of stunning, with each frame resembling a meticulously crafted painting. The combined efforts of the cinematography team, art department, and director are deserving of high praise for creating such a visually arresting experience.

Special Effects: The VFX work in "Marakkar" is arguably the finest within the Malayalam film industry to date. In contrast to other high-budget Indian films, "Marakkar" exercises restraint in its CGI usage, opting for a balanced blend of visual effects and practical effects that enhance the narrative without overshadowing it-a decision that will likely age well over time.

Design and Artistry: Both costume design and art direction are standout elements, successfully navigating the director's vision of a story that is 30% historical and 70% fictional. The film's aesthetic choices effectively support this creative balance.

Music and Performances: The soundtrack adds an enjoyable layer to the film's atmosphere, while the cast delivers solid performances across the board, despite some characters receiving limited screen time.

Narrative Challenges: However, the film's narrative is encumbered by an excess of characters who fail to justify their presence, leading to a bloated runtime and a sluggish pace. Those seeking a traditional historical drama may find themselves underwhelmed, as the film lacks emotionally resonant moments with its protagonist, Kunjali Marakkar IV, save for the intense final sequence and ending song.

Authenticity: A notable shortcoming is the film's inability to authentically reflect its historical setting. The dialogue lacks period-specific nuances, often indistinguishable from contemporary vernacular, which detracts from the immersive experience.

Screenplay and Theme Music: The screenplay's mediocrity is a significant detriment, undermining the film's potential impact. Additionally, while the theme music is functional and occasionally evocative, its repetitive nature is noticeable.

Conclusion: Despite not meeting the lofty expectations set by its pre-release buzz, "Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham" is a commendable effort that showcases the dedication of a large creative team. It represents a bold venture in the Malayalam film industry, with a budget that surpasses typical box office returns.

Verdict: "Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham" is a film best appreciated on the big screen, offering a watchable experience that highlights the fruits of collective ambition and hard work.

The grand scale of production values such as Art, VFX, series of mega actors, costumes,Songs, Cinematography all would make one think here is Malayalam movie's KGF and Bahubali. First half is crisp and engaging. Pranav Mohanlal portion was very well done. Apart from some miscasting and every one using their own slangs , first half was very impressive.

Second half started of with long cliche melodrama that will put shame to the word cliche. From that point script and director did not know what to do and how to take it to a climax.

Any how, watch it for the first half, for the grandness never seen in malayalam movies before.

Positives:excellent vfx,costume design,art direction and cinematography.. pranav was the real Saviour of the movie.arjun sarja,chinali character,prabhu etc did their role nicely..the director was unable to bring the full potential of mohanlal in whole movie,, Good cinematic experience with nice sound design.. Bgm,songs and action sequences was just ok

Negatives:screenplay and dialogues was very poorly written..the long runtime of the movie (3hr)is the biggest drawback.. Except climax portion and first half ,movie drags really badly most of time.

It is really doubtfull whether the war sequences and emotional scenes worked with audience..

First half is over! You could tell how it's going n where it's going and I'm pretty sure it's not going to get any better. Priyadarshan, please retire, you are outdated and you are a guy who still feel that this melodrama, using the same old cheesy fights and war scenes will sell in the 21st century. Please take a look at movies like Troy, which I felt closely aligns to this movie and what it could have been so far. This movie had a lot of resources at its disposal, but the implementation was s***, thanks to Priyadarshans outdated storyline, direction and war tactics. They could have made this a lot better. I'm pretty sure, the real person "Marakkar" would have had better strategies for beating the Portugese, than this S***. There's nothing out of the box or something tat makes you feel, wow!! They clearly haven't done their research on how war movies can be implemented effectively!!

"Enthino vendi thilakkunna sambar"

What a waste of money and resource. This movie lacks research and brilliance. What it needed was a better story and a brilliant director!! It had all the other elements.

PS: I'm not a Mohanlal fan nor a mamootty fan but a movie buff.! This movie had the resource and capabilities to be a masterclass. DISAPPOINTED!!!!

Second half: After the first half, during the intermission, I posted my review above and I was referring to the old Classic Troy there. That Priyadarshan should have watched Troy. My O my, I was surprised to know that he did watch it and he literally copy pasted scenes from the 2004 movie Troy.! The scene Hector was killed, dialogue to dialogue, BGM and even the scene when Hector's dad pleads to Achilles, to get Hector's body back, they copy pasted it!! Fireballs from Troy was replaced with Spike balls, Achilles was replaced with Marakkar, Hellen was replaced with Aarcha!!

All that resource at their disposal, n all they could do was copy paste a 2004 classic?! And did they really expected us mallu audience to not pick this out???

Please do us a favour everyone and watch the 2004 Brad Pitt movie Troy. (It's my favourite of all time)

I'm also not part of any campaign to demote this movie! Just stating facts and my honest review. I honestly wished this had been better! But thanks to Priyadarshan's outdated brains, my day n time had been spoilt.!!

As usual director tries to copy other language movie scenes 1)Pirates n bahubali stunt 2) Troy's emotional scene 3) suryas rajubhai suspense Casting- Ammas main members where added and their casting was not apt, which bring comedy in serious situation especially mukesh.

If the movie was directed by rajamouli atleast the copied( which I mentioned above) area could have been better.

When the war starts camera starts shaking...

Overall for malayalam movie it was a great effort which is not good movie comparing to other language movies.

One time watchable 6.5/10.

With so much pre-release hype and three National Awards to boot, the viewer isn't entirely wrong to expect less predictability in the plot, more robust characterization, or at the very least, originality in its war set-pieces. Marakkar is mostly underwhelming, with an array of characters, none of whom manage to evoke a single emotion in viewers. What's the point of not-bad visual effects and a neatly choreographed naval set-piece when the least effort has gone into developing characters we want to root for? The writing (by Priyadarshan and Ani I. V Sasi) simply stitches a bunch of sequences together, thinking it'll get glossed over by the period setting, too many well-known faces in meaningless roles, and the whole patriotic angle.

Priyadarshan has previously proven that he can Indianize western content quite ably. Still, since this film is quite the opposite of an all-out comedy (which is his forte), the meat in the plot is seriously lacking. The dialects are an incoherent mess, and at times, it felt like the ensemble stopped caring what (or how) they were speaking. The first half remains watchable due to some of the factors mentioned above, plus a good show from Pranav Mohanlal. The second is where the film dips almost into soap-opera levels of storytelling, piling up cliche after cliche, concluding with a tackily done war sequence. Ironically enough, the Lion of the Arabian Sea fights his most significant battle on land, struggling to rid itself of the Baahubali aura. The less said about "Betti itta baazha thandu.." and the Troy-Braveheart-inspirations, the better!

Priyadarshan and Mohanlal had a symbiotic relationship. Boosting each other's skill and market with every movie. But that was till last decade. 'Oru maruboomikadha' was dull but at times hilarious thanks to the cast performance.

This, the biggest film in both their careers, hyped as "technically most perfect", with an ensemble star cast, is absolutely pathetic and torturous to watch. Priyadarshan seemed over confident that his laziness is prominent throughout the film.

Mohanlal seems to have given up on acting that his dialogues lacked energy and so did his performance. A swashbuckler film with no enjoyable action scenes. Mohanlal being the lead, has only one fight scene that too hung by ropes.

Filmmakers considering the audience as some 12th century tribe who haven't seen films is stupidity. Priyadarshan is stupid. Yes. Making a very bad rip off of Braveheart and claiming to be a victim of social media fan fights is irritating disappointing and heart breaking. Also the obese mohanlal who moves like a snail is not apt for an action film.

What to watch? The visuals- the cinematography and CGI.. brilliant. That doesn't make a film.

Bad dialogues, poor research, ripping of Braveheart , lazy making results in a movie that falls miles down its true potential.

Dear Priyadarshan who entertained us for decades, kindly take a break till you have a good original story and screenplay. Mohanlal the actor who gave kalapani, narasimham, thanmathra and even Lucifer is lost somewhere in a pool of ego pampered by his fans and morons surrounding him.

Good luck both of you.

Poor direction. Very lengthy, 3hour was not engaging at all. Bit lagging.

Weak story- expected a lot in story, but story was not worth making a film on it.

Poor casting- few characters could have been replaced.

Sunil Sheety, Arjun and Prabhu was good. But deserved much more screen time.

Music and visuals were awesome. One of the best vfx works ever done in India. Story could have been better executed. Mohanlal is a legendary actor, but the director wasted him. Overall watch it only for the visual experience.

First of all i thought the movie is a utter flop just like Odiyan nd Mamangam after reading the initial trolls and the reviews. So i watched the movie with zero expectation. After watching, i came to a conclusion thar some haters are simply degrading an awsome movie, the direction and Craftwork. Great casting and good performances. Its a must theatre experience movie. I would suggest all the fans to watch this movie. Its worth... My Rating - 8/10

Note:Its a Historic movie, not a Fiction. So please dont expect like Baahubali nd KGF.

Marakkar is a decent attempt and a one time watch (sans the hype). The cinematography, costumes, sets etc. Are quite well done. However, the core of the movie is amiss. The story and characters are all over the place and none of the arcs are well developed. It's just poor direction from Priyadarshan, throwing so many characters into the mix for no good reason whatsoever. All the plot lines are so short and meaningless, that nothing sticks. I watched it on the first day and took my family along as well, and it was truly an excruciating watch for my parents since it's 3 hours of boredom with no story. Mohanlal still has so much to offer and I really hope good directors take advantage of his acting prowess and producers spend big money on promising projects, unlike this one.

Horrible watch! This film was given the National Award Golden Lotus. This is the result of corruption in the National Awards. Moral and Ethical corruption can get you any national award and let's face it that Priyadarshan is one of the worst film makers and also one of the lackeys of the central govenment.

Dialogue deliverance not up to the average

Not even a single dialogue to be remembered back

Vfx seems to extremely improved in accordance with Malayalam film industry

Average film 🎞 rather than a big budget promotion film.

It's not worth talking about the historical significance of the film because the director itself claimed that the film has only 30% of historical factor rather all other events are merely fictional. The titular character, Kunjali Marakkar is a historical person (where the film's protagonist is Kunjali Marakar IV), and some of the elements flavored on the path of the story have that kind of historical significance. The Zamorins governance, invasion of the Portuguese, etc are the noted historical connotations. When we heckle the traces of Marakkar's legacy at the verge of the freedom movement we get the clear idea that all the marks pointed in the history is totally not at all history but it is something mythical in context. So we can't argue about the exact validation of the things that the film shows and the historical shreds of evidence portraying. Just put aside the matter of history, the film Marakkar: Lion of Arabian Sea is not much catchy and has not reached the expected level for me. The term 'expected' only refers to the fuss covered on all sides by filmmakers, news channels, and also among the fans. Actually, I didn't expect anything more from Marakkar because all the fuss that I'm talking about only has validity when the film gets released. After all, it's up to the audience. All that tumult is only a matter of marketing or publicity. Except for that tumult I went for the movie because of some of the factors. The one thing is the director itself. Priyadarshan is a good-crafty director whose visuals have innate quality and freshness. I love his frames and composing. As an admiring filmmaker, I look upon his films not because of the subject matter he discussed but because of those frames. I expect that kind of frame in this film and he didn't disappoint me. The next thing that urge me to watch the film on the first day is the acclamation received for the film at the National awards. It bagged the best feature film, Visual effects, and Costume design recognition at National Awards. I completely agree with the Visual Effects and Costume Design section but I don't know why the jury selected this film as the best feature one. I think they are mistaken. The main problem relies on the script itself. The movie lacks its core on the progression where it can't connect the emotion among the audience. It has visual assistance with CGI but more than the gimmicks of visual effects the film swirled into dialogue to dialogue presentation. I felt that the director intentionally packed dialogues in each and every corner of the movie. It is a big film; in content and making but can't be valued as a good one because it lacks the nucleus that a film must-have.

The trailer seemed so promising but I came out of the theater feeling sick... Many scenes were copied from famous Hollywood flicks like Troy, Braveheart etc... poor story, script and unpleasant songs.. Kunjali's character was overhyped. The ship battle is the only part that was enjoyable..

Marakkar The lion of Arabian sea is visually stunning historical drama. Remember This movie not made for fans. There is not much events to celebrate fans but as historical movie, that reached upto the mark.

I cannot give 4/5 and I cannot even give 3/5 it's between that. Entire making of this movie is ready good and appreciable effort by Priyadharshan and Crew. Richness in every shot is making the movie into next level. It's proud moment for Malayalam industry for no doubt.

Here is the rating:

Direction- 3.8/5 They way he crafted movie is really good. I have observed some sequences ends up with incomplete scenes in the first half causing lag.

BGM - 3/5 - The trailer bgm is the only one I felt exceptional but rest of the background scoring is just ok. Rahul Raj could have do some more effective BGM's to feel movie more better.

Music- 4/5 - Ronnie Raphael did his part really well, all songs are good and placing as well first song after the interval so good.

Editing - 3/5 just ok not remarkable work since the incomplete sequences in the first half killa the flow of the movie. Colour grading in the first visual effects is not good. They could do more light. Second half was good compared to 1st. They did not even given any build ups before war scenes.

Art work - 5/5 Sabu Cyrill excellent work. He created ambiance of a historic movie very well.

VFX- 4.5/5 I would say Art and VFX is the back bone of the movie. Excellent work

Casting- 3.5/5, Just good. It could have been better.

Story- 3.5/5, Above average, predictable story pattern. Build up scenes are missing in the movie. Ship battles to create Kunjali's braveness and intelligence also missing. That is really impacting to feel the character.

Script- 3/5, I felt movie lost little flow in the first half and interval puch fight is giving an huge expectation in second half on sea fight scenes but they given fights in the land, that is overall good. Tricks and tactics to winning battles not convinced properly. They could have do some build up scenes as a pirate in the sea with Dutch Army. That was missing and less scens included in first half fight.

Acting and performances- 4/5 Mohan Lal as usual good but not exceptional performance as Kunjali's. I felt like Mohanlal's Kunjali is soft version. I missed mascularism of a great warrior. Pranav's performance is stunning. All others did really good job apart from Sunil Shetty's lip syncing.

Dialogue- very dailogs are not upto the mark. Mark many of them was excellent.

Cinematography- 5/5 no words. Excellent frames and shots.. great work by S. Thiru.

Some signature shots of Priyadharshan also felt good.

My verdict- a must watch theatre experience for one time. Without doubt I will give 7.5/10.

It's not a crap like Mamangam and Odiyan. As an art, it's really good movie.

As an Indian - Malayalam movie - excellent work As world movie - above average.

Below average everything: story, acting, direction, music, costumes, stunts. There are a few questions I have for the makers and the folks who thought this movie deserved best movie award by the government of India: 1. Why were the Portugese talking to each other in English with a 'senor' added to the sentences 2. The accent of the characters is so historically inaccurate for the period, everyone was talking in their natural accent. Why?

3. The same question for costumes. When I was a kid a few decades back, everyone was wearing a mundu. But the costumes of ladies in the court for the most part looked like a posh marriage function in 2000's. Male actors wore random stuff that seemed to have come from a drama company. It reminded me of Inoccent's costume collection from Ramji Rao Speaking 😂 4. A gentleman drops an F... YOU in the movie. Did the slang exist in 16th century? Kindly enlighten me.

5. Kalyani and Pranav are good looking star kids. But that's it, they are just good looking, not good actors. Their performances were very stale and emotions bland. Weren't they in the movie just their because of their parents.

6. Priyadarshan is one of the most respected movie makers of Malayalam and one of the greatest features of his movies is music. I still find myself humming songs from his old movies. How come he did not realize most of the songs in Marakkar had plagiarized music?? The intro music of Zamorin court sounded like a News jingle.

7. Why couldn't the makers spend some money to make stunts more convincing by making agile folks fight and have veterans like Mohanlal, Prabhu and Siddique just be wise commanders? This was a golden opportunity to showcase Kerala's kalaripayattu to the world rather than swing Mohanlal on ropes.

8. What was the criteria for giving this movie the best movie award of 2021? Just from Malayalam we got gems like Joji, Nayattu and The Great Indian Kitchen, what made this 'raja part' drama worthy of the award over other movies?

9. Finally who did the sets for the movie? Some of them looked like a kid's painting.

The film is an overall classical history drama fiction with effective making. The VFX, sound, bgm, costumes, art..etc are brilliant in this film. All the actors in this movie have done their best. Just don't think this film is entirely based on history, half of which is fiction .. I'm not commenting unnecessarily on the first half or the second half here. So, my personal opinion is that you can watch and enjoy it without unnecessary expectations.

I hope this helpful! :)

First half was okay. Second half was a drag and got boring in between . Many unnecessary plot-lines and characters. My expectations were lowered by a theatre audience review video circulating in social media. I didn't hate it as much but the screenplay and story are weakest part of this movie. The technical aspects like VFX , art work and sound design were decent. Many high profiles cast and their characters were unnecessary (like Prabhu, Suhasni, Manju Warrier). Why cast Sunil Shetty though. Acting wise, I liked Hareesh Perardi and Arjun's performance. I think actor Vineeth dubbed for Arjun (I maybe wrong). A10's performance was okay. As an audience, you are not emotionally connected or invested in any of the characters. And I hated that rip-off modified theme song. Even though presented as pirate turned Navy Commander of Zamorin , no explanation of how he set up his gang and acquired his skills. Instead we get a Robinhood story. Surprisingly no "kadal" scene in second half for the Simham of Arabi kadal.

Overall can be be classified as "one time watch".

Mohanlal class movie directed by Priyadarshan.. Good direction.. graphics. Pranav mohanlal lal best acting.. marakkar the lion of arabian sea. It's running successfully all over the world.

Marakkar failed to impress the audience who expected some pirate scenes, wars and lalettans magic. Although movies is watchable but failed to impress the audience. Just a typical Priyadarshan movie. Only positive note I could note was the war VFX.

He should have included some pirate scenes, more war scenes, because title is saying so.

If someone is creating an epic big budget movie with lots of fans shows, he should atleast put every detail right. I think he has missed lots of detailing when it comes to charcters plot, their mannerism etc. Lots of unnecessary typical Priyan party songs.

Other negative things is, when a hero cries camera focusing on rainy clouds, when he is happy sun rises etc etc. I'm just fed up with these kind of "kallukadi".

I decided to watch this movie today because of overblown hype. I advise everyone not to watch this movie with high expectations. The movie was basically below average, with no standout moments. There are much too many unnecessary sequences like romance scenes and songs in this to make it run longer. Some of the scenes are unrelated to one another. It was difficult to see it in some of the scenes since they were too dark. There are far too pointless castings with little screenplay. Mohanlal's dialogue delivery was terrible, and I felt like his muslim slang seemed to be the same as in the movie Kilichundan Mambazam. Pranav Mohanlal's performance was outstanding, much better than Mohanlal's. This movie is not a thriller like bahubali and do not compare such a movie with this. It's a historical emotional drama. Overall, this is a one-time watchable movie.