'L2: Empuraan' Faces Online Backlash; Mohanlal Actioner Gets Stellar Box-Office Opening
Several posts showing cancelled tickets have been doing the rounds on X and Facebook in response to the film’s alleged depiction of the communal violence that broke out in Gujarat.
Actor Mohanlal's latest movie L2: Empuraan which hit the screens on Thursday has had a stellar opening, amassing ₹22 crores across the country on Day 1, with the majority of the collection coming from the film's Malayalam version.
The film, however, is seeing a growing online backlash from a section for its alleged portrayal of the events surrounding the Gujarat riots of 2002.
Messages calling for the boycott of the film, a sequel to the blockbuster Lucifer, have intensified over the last day. Posts showing cancelled tickets have been doing the rounds on X and Facebook in response to the film’s alleged depiction of the communal violence that broke out in Gujarat.
The film, directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, begins with the disclaimer that the events shown are fictional. It goes on to allude to incidents like the burning of the Sabarmati Express coaches in Godhra, the rape of Bilkis Bano, lynching of Muslims and the presence of a fictional character whose name resembles the key convict in the Naroda Patiya massacre in Ahmedabad.
The backlash has included barbs and abuse aimed at the stars Mohanlal, Prithviraj and the screenwriter Murali Gopy.
Empuraan created waves in the Malayalam industry prior to its release for its huge budget that is rumoured to be over ₹150 crores, making it one of the most expensive films to come out of Kerala.
The movie is also available in Tamil, Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. The collection falls short of Vicky Kaushal’s Chhaava, at ₹31 crores on opening day, which has had the biggest opening of the year to date.