Antony Perumbarvoor, producer of the Malayalam film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, said that the theatre owners “weren’t ready even to discuss” the plans for the release of Mohanlal‘s film with him.
Perumbarvoor’s statement comes after it was announced that Marakkar would release on Amazon Prime Video during Christmas. Film exhibitors across the State opposed the move.
Perumbavoor, who recently resigned from his post of the Vice-President of the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK), told Manorama Online, “Even though they (film exhibitors) had wished to support me this time too, I don’t think such discussions have taken place. They held lots of meetings to discuss this issue; but the leaders of the association never called me. They weren’t ready to even discuss anything with me. This pained me a lot. I am wondering what wrong have I done to them”.
Perumbavoor said that the makers had held meetings with theatre owners the last time cinemas in Kerala had reopened, and sought for the film’s 21-day exclusive theatrical release.
“Marakkar is a movie that would make Keralites proud. Even the theatre owners didn’t have a different opinion about that. But, they asked me to get separate agreements from all the theatres. The copies of the agreement were sent to 230 theatres from my office. Only eighty theatres had returned the signed agreement. That is when I understood that I don’t have the support of all of them. They told me that other movies too would be ready for release by that time. However, I was surprised by all these,” said Perumbavoor.
However, FEUOK President K Vijayakumar told Silverscreen India, earlier, that this was entirely “the producer, actor, and director’s decision.”
“We [the association] are not with Marakkar now. They already collected the advance from the theatres and returned it. They did not keep their word. And it’s okay,” he said.
Written and directed by Priyadarshan, Marakkar narrates the story of Kunjali Marakkar, the fourth and the last of the Malayali naval leaders deployed by the Samoothiri of Calicut to fight in the war against the Portuguese in the 16th century.
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While Perumbavoor said that Marakkar is a mega project, and “it is not right to compare it with other movies,” Vijayakumar said that the film’s digital release is unlikely to affect theatres in Kerala. “There are other superstars as well in Malayalam,” he noted. “We are getting their films. So cinemas will not face a problem. In cinema, stars are not paramount. Content is the base of a film. If one or two superstars opt to go away from theatres, we don’t care about it.”
One of the other star films headed for cinemas is Dulquer Salmaan‘s Kurup. The film was initially set for a digital release, on Amazon Prime Video on November 12, but will now release in theatres instead. “The film was already slated for an OTT release. But, based on our request, he [Salmaan] returned [to cinemas],” said Vijayakumar.
Marakkar will be Mohanlal’s second film after Drishyam 2 to go for a digital release. Drishyam 2, which also released on Amazon Prime Video, was again produced by Perumbavoor.