Priyadarshan’s ambitious multilingual (Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and Telugu), Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (Marakkar - The Lion Of Arabian Sea), took home not one, but three National Awards on Monday, at the 67th National Awards. The historical film took home the titles of Best Feature Film, Best Costume Designer (Sujith Sudhakaran and V Sai) and Best Special Effects (by Priyadarshan’s son, Siddharth). 

Based on the story of Kunjali Marakkar IV (played by Mohanlal), the celebrated naval chief of the Zamorin of Calicut, the film stars Suniel Shetty, Manju Warrier, Arjun Sarja, Mukesh and Keerthy Suresh, in pivotal roles. Priyadarshan, who dedicated his award to the late filmmaker David Lean, and Ramesh Sippy, says, “I didn’t expect to win, although I thought the film could be awarded in other departments. I am dedicating this award to my two gurus, who taught me how to shoot big frames in big canvases. David Lean and Ramesh Sippy’s filmmaking styles have influenced me. They had the same approach to movie-making.”  

Priyadarshan’s son Siddharth, who crafted the VFX designs for the film, graduated from the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco. Since the filmmaker “couldn’t afford foreign technicians, like the ones employed for Baahubali”, he coaxed him to leave a lucrative job in America to help him. “Every father is proud of his son’s recognition. I am happy that Siddharth got it in his first film. I requested Siddharth, who has graduated in VFX in the US, to leave his lucrative job. I told him he could return after working on this film. But this award has been encouraging for him.”

Making the costumes was a challenge, given that he wanted to create an attire that would resemble the sartorial sensibilities of people from across India. “We followed artist Raja Ravi Varma’s paintings on women, to arrive at the dresses. The history surrounding it was vague, so I had to use my imagination to write the screenplay.”