Prithviraj Sukumaran's Malayalam epic L2: Empuraan, featuring Mohanlal, continues its strong run at the domestic box office.
The sequel to Prithviraj's 2019 directorial debut Lucifer, Empuraan is being hailed as one of Malayalam cinema's most ambitious projects. On its fourth day (Sunday), the film collected Rs 14 crore, marking a steady upward trend.
This was a slight increase from Saturday's earnings of Rs 13.25 crore, which itself had improved from Friday's Rs 11.1 crore collection.
However, the film's highest-grossing day so far remains its opening day (Thursday), when it earned Rs 21 crore across five languages, as per Sacnilk.
On Sunday, Empuraan garnered the majority of its revenue - Rs 13 crore - from its Malayalam version, followed by Rs 45 lakh from Tamil, Rs 31 lakh from Telugu, Rs 20 lakh from Hindi and Rs 4 lakh from Kannada.
With this, the film's total domestic earnings now stand at Rs 59.35 crore, just short of the Rs 60 crore milestone. Empuraan has been performing well despite controversy surrounding certain references to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Following criticism, the film's production team confirmed that scenes depicting violence against women and riots would be removed, along with a change in the antagonist's name. Several state BJP leaders have voiced objections to the film, and the issue escalated further over the weekend.
On Sunday, Mohanlal addressed the controversy and expressed his regret over the situation. The National Award-winning actor took to Facebook, assuring audiences that the contentious portions would be removed. Hours after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader V. D. Satheesan extended their support for the film, Mohanlal shared a statement stating that neither he nor the Empuraan team intended to promote hatred towards any political movement, ideology, or religious community. His message, in which he stated that the team "sincerely regrets any distress caused" and takes collective responsibility, was later reposted by director Prithviraj and producer Antony Perumbavoor.
L2: Empuraan features an ensemble cast, including Manju Warrier, Abhimanyu Sharma, Indrajith Sukumaran, Sukant Goel, and Nikhat Khan. Written by Murali Gopy and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas, the film marks Prithviraj's third directorial venture with Mohanlal, following Lucifer and Bro Daddy. Notably, Empuraan has also made history as the first Malayalam film to be released in IMAX.
