Priyadarshan’s magnum opus Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (Marakkar: Lion Of The Arabian Sea) drops on Amazon Prime Video today. But the filmmaker is unhappy about the multilingual’s digital release, convinced that his passion project is better suited for the big screens. The Mohanlal starrer — set in the 16th century Calicut and based on the fourth Kunjali Marakkar, the admiral of the fleet of the Zamorin — had a theatrical release on December 2.

It may be recalled that the producers, in November, had initially announced a direct-to-web release for the period piece. At the time, cinema owners in the south appealed to Mohanlal to pursue a theatrical run. “Then, it was mutually decided [between the cinema owners] and producer Antony Perumbavoor that the film will be released in the theatres for two weeks, as they had committed to the OTT platform,” recalls Priyadarshan.

He is disappointed that the film, which won three National Awards even before its release, was given only a fortnight’s run at the marquee. “The film would have done better in theatres, had it not released on the digital platform. Such movies shouldn’t be seen on mobiles or small screens at homes, but only in the theatres. I wish we could have shown it at the theatres for longer before releasing it on an OTT [platform].”

In 2017, Malayalam superstar Mammootty had announced Kunjali Marakkar IV, a project on the same subject. The filmmaker claims that the social media war, which broke out between Mohanlal and Mammootty’s fans on the day of the release, also hampered the collections of Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham. “While the superstars were hugging each other, their fans were abusing each other and the [negative word of mouth] initially damaged the film’s box-office collections. Fortunately, the figures picked up later. The south film industry is insistent that [such fan club wars] should not [gain ground].”