Four superstars vying for the role

With four superstars vying for the role, the audience is waiting to see who will finally play the legendary Travancore king onscreen

Shiba Kurian

Filmmaker K Sreekumar has a tough task at hand. There are as many as four of Mollywood's superstars vying for the title role of his film, Marthanda Varma, a story based on the Travancore king by the same name.
While some of the posters of the soon-to-be-made film already feature Mammootty as the chosen one, sources inform us that the lead cast is yet to be finalised. Mollywood actors Mohanlal, Suresh Gopi as well as Prithviraj are currently being considered for the same.
"Mohanlal was the director's first choice. But the star apparently was unable to take it up due to date clashes. The director's associates
then suggested Mammootty. But due to a previous unsettled dispute between the filmmaker and Mammootty, the tie-up seems unlikely," informs a source. The next person on the list was Suresh Gopi. But the actor apparently has hiked his remuneration ever since he began shooting for a game show on the small screen. "He is now demanding a lot more to compensate for the kind of money he makes for every show he needs to postpone shoot for," says our source.
The latest on the list was Prithviraj, but then again, "Prithviraj's physique is not apt for this role," informs our source. However, the team is not looking beyond these four actors either.
shiba.meria@timesgroup.com

HISTORY CALLING? Mohanlal and (right) Mammootty

In Pazhassi Raja, I liked Sharath Kumar more than M😃