Mammootty to play Marthanda Varma!

Mammootty, who stars in the lead in the period movie 'Pazhassi Raja', has been offered the lead role in a movie on King Marthanada Varma, it is reported.


The grapevine has it that Mammootty was approached by a Chennai-based producer with the project for a bilngual, in Malayalam and Tamil, to be produced at a budget of Rs 40 crore. It is heard that the superstar gave his consent immediately and the project would take off in early 2012.

Marthanda Varma, who ruled Travancore from 1729 to 1758, could be described as the architect of modern Travancore. He extended the boundaries of the small princely state to Kochi through a number of wars and treaties and made Travancore the strongest state in Kerala.