Empuraan: Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran's movie to be made on a budget of Rs 150 crore? Here’s what we know

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, in an interview last year, had said that his most ambitious project will be mounted on a budget of Rs 150 crore. Seems like it wasn’t just wishful thinking as this is what is touted to be the budget of Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Empuraan, the second instalment of the Lucifer franchise.

A highly-placed source close to Mohanlal and also involved in the production and distribution of movies tells OTTplay exclusively, “Aashirvad Cinemas is currently planning Empuraan with a budget of Rs 150Cr to Rs 160Cr, which will make it one of the most expensive Malayalam movies to be made.”

Also read: Mohanlal: The budget of my most ambitious films would start from Rs 150 crore 

Aashirvad Cinemas had previously mounted Priyadarshan’s magnum opus Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham and also bankrolled Mohanlal’s directorial debut Barroz. The former, which was billed as the most expensive Malayalam movie to be produced, crashed and burned at the box office, with the delay due to pandemic further exacerbating the loss to the producers.

This will shine the light on how Prithviraj has conceived the film – not just creatively but also in terms of its business. “Even though Lucifer was a huge success in Malayalam, it didn’t run in any other languages or centres in the country. So, it remains to be seen how Prithviraj has designed the movie to ensure that the production partners recover the revenue,” says the source.

Also read: Empuraan update: Prithviraj Sukumaran completes recce of Mohanlal-starrer, to shoot in 6 countries 

While a simultaneous pan-Indian release in multiple languages along with the film’s overseas, streaming and satellite rights would bring in bulk of the revenue apart from the theatricals, it would be the first time that a Malayalam movie would break the Rs 150 crore barrier. But Mohanlal and Prithviraj would probably be the best bet to accomplish that, given the star power of the actors as well as the franchise’s popularity.

Empuraan, which is expected to be shot across six countries, is currently scheduled to begin filming from August 2023. In an earlier interview, Prithviraj said, “It is a big movie, in the sense that the scope of the story is big. The film will have events that happened before and after Lucifer’s timeline.”

The film will have Mohanlal reprise his role as Khureshi Ab’ram while Prithviraj will be seen as Zayed Masood. Empuraan will also have a host of actors from other industries as part of it, to increase its appeal in other film industries as well.

Prithviraj is also part of Prashant Neel’s Salaar, Akshay Kumar’s Bade Miyan Chotte Miyan and Ibrahim Ali Khan’s debut film Sarzameen. Mohanlal, meanwhile, will have Barroz, Malaikottai Vaaliban, Rajinikanth’s Jailer and the big-budget action-thriller Ram, with Jeethu Joseph, hitting theatres. The success of all these movies will also have an impact on how Empuraan’s release is planned and the kind of revenue that the movie will rake in.