PremiumEmpuraan controversy: Mohanlal cuts a sorry figure, says ‘we have jointly decided to remove scenes that hurt sentiments’
After right-wing activists attacked Mohanlal's Empuraan for promoting anti-Hindu agenda, the actor took to his social media page to take responsibility of its content and decision to remove the scenes
Last Updated: 01.46 PM, Mar 30, 2025
After several sequences of Mohanlal’s much-anticipated film Empuraan came under fire from the right-wing activists, the Malayalam superstar took to his social media page to take responsibility of the content of the Prithviraj Sukumaran directorial and also to inform those who have reportedly been hurt by these that a joint decision has been taken by the team to remove these contentious scenes from the movie.
Post L2 Empuraan’s release on March 27, several right-wing activists had attacked the film as well as its makers for promoting anti-Hindu agenda. Some of the scenes that reportedly offended the group include those of the 2002 Gujarat riots, which served as the backstory of Prithviraj’s character Zayed Masood as well as the movie’s villain Balraj aka Baba Bajrangi, who is later shown as the kingpin behind a major political party that uses religion to drive its supporters.
RSS mouthpiece Organiser also published an article that said that Empuraan uses the events to “push a divisive, anti-Hindu narrative that poses a serious threat to societal harmony”.
Mohanlal finally responds to Empuraan controversy
While its director Prithviraj has remained silent about the accusations, its writer Murali Gopy said that he wouldn’t react. “Everyone has the right to interpret the film their way,” he said.
Now, Mohanlal, in a social media post, has made his stance clear. The actor said that he has been made aware that certain portions in the film has offended a section of people. “As an artiste, it’s my duty to ensure that none of my films have been made to offend any political institution, idealogy or religion,” he wrote, adding that the team of Empuraan regrets if they have offended anyone’s sentiments. The actor also said that having realised their responsibility, the team has “jointly taken a decision to remove the said sequences”.
Prithviraj also shared Mohanlal's post on his social media page, expressing that he is also onboard with the decision to re-edit the film and submit it to the censor board again. The re-edited version of L2: Empuraan will reportedly released next week, according to reports.
Mohanlal comes under fire for his ‘cowardly’ stance on Empuraan
Mohanlal’s stance has already come under fire from a lot of supporters of the film, with many opining that there was no need to bow down to threats. “Aren’t you ashamed Mr Mohanlal to have read the script and released the movie and then make changes because of threats from Sangh Parivar? You are a coward,” wrote an user on Facebook.
On Saturday, Mohanlal’s long-term aide and Kerala BJP vice president and filmmaker Major Ravi had went live on Facebook, stating that Mohanlal had not seen the movie in its entirety and wasn’t aware of its entire story, till he watched the first show at 6AM on March 27. The director also said that Mohanlal was unhappy with certain sequences in the film.
Did Mohanlal listen to Empuraan narration or not?
However, Prithviraj, in an earlier interview along with Mohanlal during the promotions of Empuraan, had said that he had given a six-hour-long narration to the superstar as well as its producer Antony Perumbavoor in Dubai. Mohanlal agreed to do the film, after listening and being impressed with the narration.