Superstar Mohanlal, who has been at the receiving end of a row circling his latest film L2: Empuraan, will soon release an apology, claimed filmmaker and retired army officer Major Ravi. Mohanlal, who plays the protagonist and is one of the producers of Empuraan, has been dragged into a controversy, along with the actor and director of the film, Prithviraj Sukumaran, for the depiction of communal violence in the film that closely resembles the Gujarat riots of 2002. Though the film came with a disclaimer that all the events in it are fictional, Hindutva right wing elements including a section of Mohanlal fans have condemned the movie and its makers for the portrayal of the riots, which they feel have vilified the BJP and the RSS.
Two days after the film’s release, as criticism rose, news came out that the makers of the film are voluntarily making several cuts to the film, including a change of name of the antagonist. It was in this context that Major Ravi came live on social media on Saturday, March 29, and spoke about the backlash against the film and Mohanlal’s Lieutenant Colonel title, which some wanted withdrawn after the movie.
“I received many calls from my friends in the Army, expressing their anger. They want Mohanlal’s Lieutenant Colonel rank to be revoked. But I request you all not to mix his rank with this issue. He has done nothing wrong in this movie while wearing an Army uniform,” said Major Ravi.
Defending Mohanlal, he added, “He never interferes with the script. He listens to the story once and does not ask for any corrections. I swear he hasn’t watched Empuraan yet, just like he hadn’t seen Keerthichakra before its release. You should trust me when I say he is deeply pained by this controversy.” In the film, Mohanlal is not present in the scenes depicting the riots.
Ravi spoke about the cuts that the film’s producers were ready to make. “Around 26 scenes have already been removed. If Mohanlal has done something [problematic], he has to justify it, but I assure you, the real issues in the film arise before his entry.”
However he was more critical of Prithviraj, who has acted in one of his army films before, and Murali Gopy, actor and scriptwriter of the film. Prithviraj should have been more cautious while handling a sensitive subject, he said, and Murali should have covered the entire incident, from the beginning. “Murali is my friend, but he should have depicted the entire incident from the beginning, showing how the vehicle was burned along with 52 people. If that had been shown, this controversy wouldn’t have arisen. Selectively portraying only Hindu-Muslim violence is communalism, and they should have been cautious about it.”
Empuraan’s opening credits do depict a train fire, and passengers, including women and children and sanyasis, burning to their death, as a melancholic song plays in the background. However, many right wing elements took offence that the origin of the fire was not shown, and that it was made out to be an accident.
It has also become a matter of intrigue that the film was passed by the Central Board of Film Certification, which has BJP and RSS members holding key positions. Major Ravi said that those members should be removed.
