27th March witnessed the release of the much awaited Malayalam action thriller L2: Empuraan (2025), sequel to Lucifer (2019). It was directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, scripted by Murali Gopy and jointly produced by Antony Perumbavoor, Subaskaran Allirajah, Aashirvad Cinemas, Sree Gokulam films and Lyca Productions.
Since it is a pan-Indian film, it has an array of international and national actors starting with the lead Mohan Lal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Abhimanyu Singh, Rick Yune, Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Jerome Flynn among others. The film is the second instalment to the Lucifer franchise conceived to be a trio.
The narrative revolves around multiple landscapes as in Kerala politics, and world happenings through the main linked characters. Besides politics, the narrative also shows terrorist activities and their links to global events. This was not the scenario with Lucifer, the first film where the main focus was Kerala politics.
Merging of international and regional elements
It was doubtlessly established by Empuraan that Hollywood quality of filmmaking is not alien to Malayalam cinema; such talent and work is available here in plenty. The introduction of the titular hero Khureshi Ab’raam and Zayed Masood as well as the fight scenes were remarkable.
But the integration of these many elements as well the pressure to give a pan-Indian face to Empuraan seems to have disrupted the flow of events in the narrative. Though blending themes is purely a matter of discretion vested with the script writer, judicious use of themes is necessary for increasing viewer interest. In this regard, the film became careless.
Besides the mundane addition of Stephen Nedumpally, the focus on Khureshi Ab’raam became overwhelming. The scriptwriter did not leave even a single instance to create an intro scene for him as seen spread throughout Empuraan. In the film, every act links to the central plot since the narrative framework is already established in the first film.
In the film, every act links to the central plot since the narrative framework is already established in the first film.
Hence, Zayed Masood who was to be focused in this film according to the writer was consciously sidelined, once and for all. Besides this, the international agents after Khureshi Ab’raam and the secret cartels that he deals with are only at the periphery of the story with cliched elements.
Poor characterisation of women in Empuraan
In spite of all the efforts to make Empuraan grand, there has not been a single effective step to make this a film where female characters could wield power or exercise wisdom. The few women characters include Priyadarshini Ramdas (enacted by Manju Warrier), Jhanvi (enacted by Saniya Iyappan) and Sreelekha (enacted by Sshivada). While the latter ones are reduced to passing roles, the former one is reduced to a puppet.
Priyadarshini, though she rightfully owns and feels privileged to exercise the legacy of her veteran politician father, is often seen without any wisdom on how to act in order to prevent their political party from demolishing itself. She cannot rule the state or her house, she does not have a voice to raise her concerns.
In most of the scenes, she is reduced to a puppet in the hands of Steven Nedumpally who reigns in the state and their home. The scenes involving Priyadarshini also show her totally succumb to Steven Nedumpally so much so that she chooses to forget herself, trying to act like a devoted woman. Her costumes resembling their party flag and the arrest scene in Empuraan were all deployed to make it more mechanical and ridiculous for herself and the many she represents.
Overall, Empuraan, though promised as a rich offering of thrilling elements could not shine as expected. Rather it became a tedious repetition of introduction scenes and themes that are already established. More than ever, it failed to create any lasting impression in terms of background music or screenplay.
It is doubtlessly, a one-time watch which makes the viewer consider seriously if they want to watch the sequel or not.
However, despite technical flaws, Empuraan (2025) is a boldly political film in our jingoistic times, which dared to portray the nation’s history.
However, despite its flaws, Empuraan (2025) is a boldly political film in our jingoistic times, which dares to portray the nation’s history. This has led to controversy and an attack by right wing forces. Therefore, the film was re-released in theatres with 27 cuts and the producers are facing raids from the income tax department all of a sudden.
In this regard, we are reminded of the words of Sarah Joseph, a renowned Malayalam writer: ‘By staying silent, we allow fascist powers to grow. When there is no force of correction from the outside, power will be centralised. A people’s movement is never futile, whether the struggle succeeds or fails, it creates awareness and a mindset‘.
About the author(s)
Vidhu (she/her) is an emerging writer with Masters in English language and literature, keen on learning the politics of the world around her. She has dreams to create a career in journalism and writing, where she unburdens her self. She has a great taste for movies from varies geographical spans and pens down poetry in magical charms. She is open to projects or research centring on humanities.
