Why Mohanlal’s latest film has sparked a controversy

Indian superstar Mohanlal has apologised and said some scenes will be removed from his new film after criticism from Hindu nationalist groups.

The Malayalam-language film, L2: Empuraan, was released on Thursday and is performing well at the box office.

However, it faced a backlash from Hindu groups, including members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), over some scenes including ones seen as referring to the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state.

“As an artist, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films are hostile to any political movement, ideology or religious group,” Mohanlal wrote on Facebook.

“The team of Empuraan and I sincerely regret the distress caused to my loved ones, and with the realisation that the responsibility for it lies with all of us who worked on the film, we have decided together to remove such subjects from the movie,” added Mohanlal, who is a household name in Kerala state, which is home to the Malayalam film industry.

The developments have sparked a debate around artistic freedom, with the opposition Congress and Left parties accusing the BJP of putting pressure on the filmmakers.

However, BJP leaders have said that the party did not launch a public campaign against the film and that people have the right to express their views on social media.

L2: Empuraan is a sequel to the 2019 Malayalam political thriller Lucifer, in which Mohanlal played the role of Stephen Nedumpally, a mysterious figure who is later revealed to be the head of an international crime syndicate.

The movie, directed by another Malayalam star Prithviraj, was a big hit and got mostly positive reviews.

So expectations were high for L2: Empuraan, which centres on the return of Mohanlal’s character as a saviour of Kerala’s politics, which has fallen into the hands of corrupt and evil people.

Even before its release, the film made headlines over its budget – huge for the relatively understated Malayalam film industry – and star-studded promotions.

It created a buzz across Indian cities and even internationally, with opening-day shows being sold out.

The film has made nearly 1.5bn rupees ($17.5mn; £13.5mn) overall in its opening weekend, according to film analytics tracker Sacnilk.

But the film received mixed reviews from critics.

The Hindustan Times newspaper called it a film grappling with “an identity crisis, an overlong run time and a confused mess of a script”. The Indian Express said “the emotional depth and dramatic weight that anchored Lucifer are largely absent in Empuraan” but praised “Mohanlal’s commanding performance” and some other aspects of the film.

L2: Empuraan begins with the backstory of a character Zayed Masood – played by director Prithviraj – who was orphaned during riots in a place in India, with some of the details being similar to the religious violence that occurred in 2002 when Modi was chief minister of Gujarat state.

The long flashback sequence shows some graphic scenes depicting Hindus committing violent crimes against Muslims during the violence.

It also shows how one of the perpetrators of the violence becomes more powerful over the years and is seeking to secure a key position in Kerala’s political landscape.

The scenes sparked an uproar.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state president of the BJP, who had wished the film’s team well before its release, later said that he now realised there were “topics in the movie that disturbed Mohanlal fans and other viewers”.

“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,” he said, adding that he would not watch the film.

While some state BJP leaders supported this, others criticised the makers and accused them of depicting “anti-national themes” in the film.

The Organiser Weekly – a magazine published by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is the ideological parent of the BJP – called the film a “disturbing, divisive tale disguised as cinema”.

“Empuraan isn’t just a bad film; it’s an attack on faith, on political plurality and on the very soul of balanced storytelling,” its review said.

Some social media users have also called for a boycott of the film, but there has not been a large-scale online campaign or big protests against the movie.

Over the weekend, Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of the film, said he had asked Prithviraj to make changes “if any scenes or dialogues in Empuraan have hurt anyone”.

This was followed by Mohanlal’s post on Sunday which confirmed some scenes would be removed. Prithviraj shared the post on Facebook but did not offer additional comment.

Some reports said the film would see as many as 17 cuts while others said a three-minute long scene would be removed and some dialogues muted. The makers have not confirmed what the changes are.

The film had been cleared by India’s Central Board of Film Certification – known as the censor board – which reviews movies for public exhibition. But makers have the option of resubmitting it for more cuts.

Amid the controversy, L2: Empuraan has also received support from the Communist Party of India (Marxist) – which governs Kerala – and the Congress party. The two parties have a strong presence in Kerala, where the nationally powerful BJP has struggled to make inroads.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the “communal hate campaign against Empuraan and its creators is deeply disturbing”.

“Undermining creative freedom through fear and threats strikes at the very core of democracy,” he added.

“Cinema is the work of a group of artists. Changing the content of a work of art by threatening, insulting and humiliating through social media is not a victory,” wrote Congress leader VD Satheesan.

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