The production team of the Malayalam film L2 Empuraan, which opened in theaters on Thursday, has announced that it will make 17 changes due to the uproar over its references to the Gujarat riots of 2002. Next week, the updated version will be available in theaters. It has been learned that several scenes showing rioting and brutality against women would be removed, Baba Bajrangi’s name would be altered, and some dialogue would be muffled.
The producer, Gokulam Gopalan, had previously stated that the film had passed censorship and that the changes were being made to avoid offending any particular group of people. The edits are said to have been approved by the director, actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran. The second film in the Lucifer trilogy, starring Mohanlal, has already surpassed the 86 crore milestone in just two days of its release, making it the quickest Malayalam film to do so. However, because of the political commotion it has caused, the movie has made headlines.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the leader of the state party, expressed disappointment and stated he would not watch the film, but the BJP has not protested against it. “I had watched Lucifer and had liked it. I had said that I would watch the movie Empuraan when I heard it was a sequel to Lucifer. But now I have come to know that the makers of the movie themselves have made 17 amendments in the movie and that the movie is undergoing re-censorship. I understand that there were topics in the movie that disturbed Mohanlal fans and other viewers,” he has said. “A movie should be watched as a movie. it can’t be seen as history. Also, any movie that tries to build a story by distorting the truth is doomed to fail. So, will I watch this sequel to Lucifer? No. Am I disappointed by this type of moviemaking? – Yes,” he added.
V Muraleedharan, a former Union minister and BJP leader, claimed that the party has made its position clear. “As a film lover and somebody who enjoys the film, each individual can have their opinion. I have not yet seen the film. As regards the party stand, the state president has said very clearly. I don’t think I should go beyond that and defy the state president because he is the final authority as regards matters related to the state,” he said.
The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha’s state general secretary, K Ganesh, has demanded that Prithviraj’s “foreign connections” be looked into and said that his films exhibit a “entirely anti-national” trend. An article criticizing L2 Empuraan as a “disturbing, divisive tale disguised as cinema” was published in the mouthpiece Organiser by the RSS, the ideological parent of the BJP. “Empuraan isn’t just a bad film, it’s an attack on faith, on political plurality, and on the very soul of balanced storytelling,” according to the essay. Some social media users have criticized Prithviraj and Mohanlal, the film.
The Congress has backed the movie and said the criticism showed the “intolerance” of Sangh Parivar. He said movies such as ‘The Accidental Prime Minister’ and ‘Emergency’ were critical of the Congress Party, but the BJP had welcomed them. Movies, the Congress veteran said, always discuss politics. “That will be favourable for a section and against some others. These are all part of freedom of expression. The BJP should introspect whether it is right to show intolerance only when they are criticised,” he told reporters.
Kerala minister and senior CPM leader V Sivankutty claimed that even if “scissors are used” to edit scenes, generations would still be aware of the 2002 riots because they were a part of Indian history. “Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy. Any action to prevent it should be opposed,” he said.
