character, won the National Film Award for Best Actor in 2008. Kanchivaram also won accolades at several film festivals. Priyadarshan returned to Malayalam films directing the Mohanlal starrer, Arabeem Ottakom P. Madhavan Nayarum in Oru Marubhoomikkadha. The 2013 film Geethaanjali starring Mohanlal as Dr. Sunny Joseph, and the 2014 film Aamayum Muyalum did not do well at the box-office. In late 2015, Priyadarshan announced a crime thriller film in Malayalam, with Mohanlal in the lead role. The production was confirmed and the title Oppam was announced in December 2015. The director started working on the film ahead of another big-budget film starring Mohanlal, which was delayed due to unfavourable weather in Russia, where the film was supposed to be shot. The screenplay and dialogues are written by Priyadarshan himself which is based on the story by debutant writer Govind Vijayan. The film released to positive reviews and emerged as a blockbuster, beating several records and becoming the highest grossing Malayalam film of the year within 16 days of release. 2018-present In early 2018, he started pre-production on Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham, a Malayalam language epic historical period film set in the 16th century. The film with Mohanlal in the titular role, is based on the battle exploits of Kunjali Marakkar IV—the naval chieftain of the Zamorin of Calicut. Kunjali Marakkars organised the first naval defense of the Indian coast by safeguarding Calicut from Portuguese invasion for almost a century. The film was eventually released on 2 December 2021. Other work Priyadarshan has also directed many advertisement films. His most popular commercials are for Coca-Cola, American Express, Nokia, Parker Pens, Asian Paints, Kinley and Max New York Life Insurance. Frequent collaborators He frequently collaborated with actors like Mohanlal, Mammootty, Shankar, Kuthiravattam Pappu, Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, Sankaradi, M.G. Soman, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Innocent, Nedumudi Venu, Sreenivasan, Sukumari, Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Shobana, KPAC Lalitha, Revathi, Lissy, Cochin Haneefa, Maniyanpilla Raju, Mukesh, Nandhu, Jagadeesh, C.I. Paul, Vineeth, Ganesh Kumar and Mamukoya. His multiple collaborations in Hindi include Tabu, Paresh Rawal, Pooja Batra, Amrish Puri, Johny Lever, Asrani, Akshay Kumar, Anil Kapoor, Akshaye Khanna, Kareena Kapoor, Om Puri, Tinnu Anand, Shakti Kapoor, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Sharat Saxena, Arbaaz Khan, Jackie Shroff and Suniel Shetty. Personal life He married actress Lissy on 13 December 1990. The couple got divorced in 2016, actress Kalyani and Sidharth are their children. Filmography Awards and honours Priyadarshan has won awards, given