PremiumEmpuraan becomes only third Malayalam film to achieve THIS record at the Karnataka box office
Actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Empuraan had opened with a whopping 1,008 shows in Bengaluru city alone and had record sold out shows on Day 1 for a non-Kannada film
Last Updated: 02.43 PM, Apr 01, 2025
The box office rampage of actor-filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran’s latest directorial, Empuraan, the second instalment in the Lucifer trilogy, continued unabated over the extended weekend, despite all the furor surrounding the supposedly problematic political messaging in it, albeit for the Malayalam original version only. The makers have claimed that the film, which released in theatres worldwide on March 27, 2025, has breached the Rs 200 crore mark, almost all of which has come from the Malayalam version.
Empuraan joins Aavesham and Premalu
Box office contributions from the dubbed versions have been negligible, with the Kannada version the worst of the lot. And yet, the Karnataka box office has added Rs 10 crore to the Empuraan kitty. The Malayalam original has done well in the state, making it only the third Malayalam film to get to this figure. The other two films to have managed this figure are Aavesham and Premalu.
Hombale Films has distributed Empuraan in Karnataka, with industry trackers suggesting that they are still a long way from break-even. It is said that Rs 15 crore net is the magic figure to break even. With no major releases in the weekend of April 4, Empuraan has a few more days of monopoly, what with Salman Khan’s Sikandar failing miserably and Vikram’s Veera Dheera Sooran recording much lower gains despite positive word-of-mouth.
Collections of Empuraan are expected to dip from April 1, but given that the makers are set to change the version currently playing in theatres to a more ‘crowd-pleasing’ one, with multiple cuts and mutes, audiences are likely to make a beeline for movie halls to catch the original version. According to reports, there will be 17 alterations, which are likely to amount to only a couple of minutes, which the makers are yet to confirm.
Meanwhile, following objections from right-wing political parties and patrons, lead actor Mohanlal posted an apology on social media, claiming that the intent was never to ruffle any feathers. Prithviraj has shared the same note, but made no personal addition to it, while writer Murali Gopy has not done that either.