The curious case of Empuraan and ruffled feathers
Seldom has any single Malayalam movie received so much pre-publicity as the L2 Empuraan, the second in a three-movie franchise helmed by first-time director and Malayalam superstar Prithviraj Sukumaran. Leading up to its release on March 27, 2025, the actor-director, his leading man Mohan Lal, representatives of the production houses, writer Murali Gopy, actor Manju Warrier, and others did whistle-stop cross-country campaigns. Social media was agog – diehard fans claiming that Malayalam cinema had arrived, while the more circumspect felt all this publicity was overkill.
Prithviraj Sukumaran had his reasons. In a roundtable hosted by Film Companion (now Hollywood Reporter India), the actor had buttonholed filmmaker S S Rajamouli, asking him to make something big from a Kerala point, given that SSR works with Telugu stars and has given mega blockbusters like Bahubali and RRR. And true to form, L2: Empuraan became the costliest-ever movie from Kerala and was released in all South Indian languages plus Hindi. As we speak, it’s done Rs.200 crore business – a close second to survival-thriller Manjummel Boys, which had a lifetime run of Rs.242 crore.
Now, the movie will be debuting on an OTT platform.
The makers of L2: Empuraan announced that Malayalam cinema’s biggest ever blockbuster will drop on OTT next Friday, April 25. The movie, shot as the most expensive film in the Kerala film industry, had a brilliant box office run, possibly aided further by the controversies it had generated in the early days after its release. So, we thought now would be a good time to discuss the storm that arose in the teacup and what made it subside.
The script couldn’t have gotten any better. Lucifer, the first instalment of this franchise that hit the screens in 2019 garnered more than Rs.125 crore, which some say is the actual budget for the second instalment. Advance bookings were full for a week, and the movie hit the screens with a bang – houseful shows starting from 6.00 AM onwards. And then all hell broke loose – not in the real world but on the virtual world as social media went berserk accusing the makers of anti-BJP bias. They claimed that the depiction of the post-Godhra violence was not kosher with former minister and party honcho in Kerala Rajeev Chandrashekhar, claiming that it did not depict reality. Of course, his party promoted “The Kerala Story” in a big way, though that movie too was over-the-top in claims of Love Jihad, conversions, and ISIS connections.
Amidst the brouhaha, while Prithviraj Sukumaran went silent, lead actor Mohan Lal apologized for “hurting” sentiments and announced a re-censorship of the movie with 17 cuts. Cannot blame him, as social media trolls went berserk and ruling party affiliates wanted the government to take back Lal’s position as Honorary Captain in the Territorial Army. Thereafter, the movie was back in theaters and is continuing its bull run. Before its release, the actor-director duo had stated that a third instalment would be decided only based on the box office numbers of the second one. By the looks of it, the third part should be set to roll.
This is the story that panned out in the media and on social media. What is intriguing, though is a small news story emanating on the periphery of this storm in a teacup. Fauji-turned-director-actor Major Ravi revealed that Mohan Lal seldom watches the full movie before release. He told the media a day before Lal’s apology that one would be coming. Just for context, Major Ravi had made a war movie “Keerti Chakra” with Mohan Lal in 2006. Are we then to believe that the entire blame should like with Prithviraj Sukumaran and his writer Murali Gopy – son of National Award-winning actor Bharat Gopy?
Not if one were to believe the same trolls. For long, the left-of-center social media users have touted Murali Gopy as a saffron sympathizer. Even the day the movie was released, some X users claimed that L2: Empuraan had the Gujarat reference only to divert attention towards what was essentially a plot to favour the ruling party at the Centre. So, how did all this change, and do so suddenly? In the run-up to its release, director Prithviraj Sukumaran took pains to explain his cinematic process whereby he rewrites the script based on the original one and then has long discussions with the writer Murali Gopy. Does this mean that an emboldened Prithviraj Sukumaran added scenes at the start of the movie? Daresay, most of these scenes were unwarranted and did little towards the narrative’s progression. That is, if you exclude the need to create a fresh set of antagonists who are expected to meet their “just desserts” before the closing titles.
Somewhere along the narrative, Prithviraj Sukumaran’s mother Mallika (herself an actor) claimed that her son was being made the scapegoat for this entire imbroglio. In fact, she trashed the reports that Mohan Lal or producer Anthony Perumbavoor (his longtime associate and producer) did not know about the movie’s story and shots. In a Facebook post, Mallika said Prithviraj hadn’t cheated anyone and sought collective responsibility. “They all read the script together. They all saw the scenes being shot together and everyone said OK,” the yesteryear actor noted.
Setting aside the controversies outside the cinemas, if we spare a few moments to the script itself, there’s lots that made no sense. The whole purpose of the post-Godhra scenes were to highlight the back story of the second lead, played by Prithviraj Sukumaran himself. How many movies can we recall where a second lead gets such treatment? And how many times do we have to wait for a third part to fully comprehend the character arch of the protagonist – Stephen Nedumpally, aka Khureshi Ab’raam? Would it be that in his quest for greater glory, the director broadened the scope to an extent where it made little cinematic sense? After all, even the redoubtable Rajamouli managed to keep things tight with Baahubali, retaining viewer interest with that off-the-cuff question on “Why Kattappa killed Baahubali”?
There is no doubt that Prithviraj Sukumaran holds a good grip on cinematic craft where the scenes play out at an easy pace and not like the action set-pieces we see in most Bollywood movies. And there is an intriguing storyline too – a mystery man who appears whenever God’s Own Country is facing a political challenge. If Lucifer turned up to install the son as the rightful heir to his deceased father’s throne, as Empuraan he turns up with this heir turns rogue and is replaced by the elder sister. Similarities to the Congress, if any, is purely coincidental and unintentional!!!
Did such a movie require a side story set in Gujarat? Maybe not. But then as a supporter of free speech and the right to cinematic expression, Prithviraj Sukumaran is free to do so. Just that in the process, he appears to have become the actual Lucifer for Mohan Lal and his desire to walk the tightrope when it comes to politics – can’t blame him one bit as Kerala’s voters have always shunned superstars as politicians, though this trend too is changing as Lal’s contemporary Suresh Gopi is today a central minister and the first BJP member of Parliament from Kerala.
Maybe, the next time in the third instalment of the franchise, director Prithviraj Sukumaran will stick with the story of his protagonist. The other option is to make such movies into web series – it gives two-fold relief. The trolls are usually not watching and one can have side stories for any number of characters.
