After Toofaan and Sarapatta Parambarai, Mohanlal and Priyadarshan gear up for a boxing film

Boxing seems to be all the rage these days. After Farhan Akhtar’s Toofaan and Arya’s Sarapatta Parambarai, the next big budget boxing film is from Mollywood featuring Mohanlal in the lead and helmed by director Priyadarshan.

While there were reports that Mohanlal is gearing up to play a boxer in an upcoming movie, Priyadarshan in a recent interview confirmed that the superstar has been undergoing training and will shed close to 15 kilos for his role in the movie. The movie will reportedly chronicle the rise and fall of a champion boxer and will go on floors as soon as Mohanlal completes his prior commitments, including Bro Daddy and 12th Man.

Priyadarshan had informed that Mohanlal will first play the character in his leaner version and then put on weight for the other portions of the film. The duo, meanwhile, is also awaiting the release of their big budget period action drama Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham.

The movie, which has Mohanlal playing Kunjali Marakkar IV, won this year’s National Film Award for Best Feature Film and is currently scheduled to hit theatres on August 12. The film will have a 21-day free run in theatres across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, depending on the reopening of theatres and pandemic situation.

Marakkar was initially set to release by March 2020 but was pushed to this year, owing to the pandemic. While the makers had announced a May 13 release earlier this year, the second wave of COVID-19 dashed the plans and now it is scheduled for an August mid release. Theatres in Kerala, however, are yet to reopen.

The film also has Manju Warrier, Suniel Shetty, Arjun Sarja, Keerthy Suresh, Prabhu, Pranav Mohanlal and Kalyani Priyadarshan.