Indrajith Sukumaran on Empuraan: There is an underlying pressure because of Lucifer but… | Exclusive

Finally, news about Prithviraj Sukumaran’s much-anticipated second instalment from the Lucifer franchise has started trickling out. If it was its lead actor Mohanlal talking about the scope of the project in January 2024, it’s now the actor-director’s brother Indrajith, who revealed to us how the team has been going about their work.

While there were several rumours that the movie would be a prequel of sorts to Lucifer, by now it’s confirmed that the film will have the past as well as the present portions of Mohanlal’s character Stephen Nedumpally aka Khureshi Ab’raam. This means actors such as Manju Warrier, Saniya Iyappan, Tovino Thomas and Indrajith will reprise their roles in Empuraan.

Indrajith Sukumaran: We can’t think of the end result of Empuraan now

In an interview with OTTplay, Indrajith opens up about how much the pressure of delivering a massive hit (Lucifer had grossed over Rs 100 crore at the box office) and also on a pan-Indian level has affected the movie’s team including its cast and director Prithviraj.

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

“If you work keeping in mind the pressure of the result, then you are just setting yourself to fail. All we can do is do our job, get the best script from Murali, shoot it in the best way possible and release the film. That’s what we are trying to do. We can’t think of the end result now and start working,” he says.

Indrajith, however, admits that the team is well aware of the expectations of the audience for the movie, which is expected to be a 2025 release. “There is definitely an underlying pressure because Lucifer was such a huge hit and Empuraan is its next installation. But the work isn’t progressing under that duress,” he explains.

Also read: Tovino Thomas gears up for Identity and L2 Empuraan: From bulking up to sporting a clean-shaven look 

The team has already completed two schedules – one in Delhi and Leh, and another in the UK, and will be starting the next schedule in the US this week, he adds. They are expected to fly back to India to begin the fourth schedule of the movie in Chennai in March.

Lucifer franchise to be a three-quel with a web series

Prithviraj has always maintained that the film will have three instalments and he along with Murali Gopy also has plans for a web series based on the characters of the movie. L2: Empuraan also has Tamil production company Lyca Productions as its co-producer along with Aashirvad Cinemas. It’s not yet clear whether the team is also shooting portions of the third instalment.

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