Coronavirus squashes Mohanlal’s April release ‘Marakkar’

Following Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s request to all cinema operators to shut down theatres until March 31, the first casualty is Mohanlal’s period epic ‘Marakkar: Lion of the Arabian Sea’, which has postponed its release date from March 26.

Directed by Priyadarshan, ‘Marakkar: Lion Of The Arabian’ is a 16th century warrior epic chronicling the adventures of the naval chief captain of the Zamorin of Calicut (now Kozhikode) Kunjali Marakkar IV, played by Mohanlal and charts the Portugese invasion of the Malabar coast in Kerala. This film was Mohanlal and Manju Warrier’s highly anticipated film and is being billed as one of Malayalam cinema’s most costliest film.

The film’s trailer has garnered more than 3.5 million views on YouTube.

Industry sources also claim that Mohnalal has delayed his press junket to promote this film in Dubai due to the global healthscare.

According to reports, Tovino Thomas’s romance ‘Kilometers and Kilometers’, a road movie where he falls in love with a foreigner, may also be postponed to a later date.

As the coronavirus outbreak spreads globally, it remains to be seen if other film industries like the prolific Bollywood cinema will also follow suit by shutting down theatres and delaying movie releases.

Currently, rumours about Akshay Kumar’s cop thriller ‘Sooryavanshi’ — also starring Ranveer Singh and Ajay Devgn — being postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak is gaining steam, but the production house Reliance Entertainment claims it will release as planned on March 24.