Even as his film L2 Empuraan undergoes re-censorship with 17 new cuts to remove ‘offensive’ scenes about the Gujarat riots, director Prithviraj Sukumaran’s mother has come out in his defence, claiming some people want to make him a ‘scapegoat’ in the controversy. (Also read: Mohanlal apologises after L2 Empuraan faces backlash over depiction of Gujarat riots, confirms removal of scenes)
Mallika Sukumaran defends son Prithviraj
On Sunday, Mallika Sukumaran took to her Facebook account to share her disappointment over the criticism her son has been facing, particularly the claims that Prithviraj had allegedly misled superstar Mohanlal and the film’s producers.
“This is a mother’s pain. There is no point in someone making fun of me for speaking openly about it. Neither Mohanlal nor the producers have said that Prithviraj cheated them. I don’t think they will ever say that. Mohanlal is like my younger brother. I have known Lal since childhood. Mohanlal has praised my son on many occasions. But it is very sad that some people are trying to make my son a scapegoat without the knowledge of Lal or the producers. Director Prithviraj has not cheated anyone associated with this film or any film. He will never do so,” she wrote.
Mallika clarified that Prithviraj did not mislead anyone, and the story’s narrative and tone were known to the entire team, including the writer Murali Gopy and star Mohanlal, as they were involved in script revisions throughout.
“If you feel that there is any problem with the film Empuraan, then everyone in this group is responsible for it. They all read the script together. They all saw the scenes being shot together, and everyone agreed. If scenes needed to be edited during shooting, writer Murali Gopy was always willing to do so… then how can Prithviraj be solely responsible for it when everything was finalized and the film was released?” read a part of her post.
She emphasises that Mohanlal and the producers were aware of ‘every shot’ in the film, so there is no question of them being blindsided by the final version as has been claimed. “I want to make it clear that there is not a single shot in Empuraan that neither of them (Mohanlal or the producers) knew about. There is nothing in this film that Mohanlal does not know. Neither of them would say that they were unaware of anything in the film,” she added.
The L2 Empuraan controversy and Mohanlal’s apology
Controversy arose from the film’s depiction of Gujarat riots, particularly scenes involving violence against Muslims by a mob of Hindu extremists. The antagonist, Baba Bajrangi (played by Abhimanyu Singh) is shown to be a hardliner who goes from rioter to politician. Right-wing groups called the film agenda-driven and slammed it for distorting facts, while the Congress praised it.
Speculations about Mohanlal not being in the know about certain parts of the film started after the superstar issued an unconditional apology for the scenes on Sunday. The actor acknowledged that certain aspects of the film had caused distress to some of his fans and assured them that the team had decided to remove such references.
Meanwhile, Empuraan’s production team has announced that the film will undergo revisions in response to the controversy. According to reports, 17 scenes, including those featuring riot sequences and depictions of violence against women, will be edited out.
L2 Empuraan box office performance
Despite the backlash, L2: Empuraan has achieved remarkable success at the box office. The film, which hit theatres on March 27, became the fastest Malayalam movie to gross ₹100 crore worldwide, and is now inching towards the ₹150 crore mark.
(With ANI inputs)