Mohanlal film L2E: Empuraan pre-release analysis: There is a massive buzz in Kerala and the rest of India about the upcoming release of L2E: Empuraan, the sequel to the blockbuster Lucifer starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. Lal, affectionately called by fans as 'Laletten' or elder brother Lal, has a lot going in his favour. The crew, led by fellow actor Prithviraj Sukumaran who directed both films, are leaving no stone unturned to make it a massive hit, having visited the Indian capital New Delhi to promote its Hindi version. Will Empuraan , which will be released in multiple languages, be one of the biggest hits of Indian cinema this year? What are the factors that will make it a hit or a flop? Here is a pre-release analysis. 

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Empuraan : What is the film about?

The word 'Empuraan' in Malayalam means an overlord, and in the context of this film, is a man who is above humans but below God. In Lucifer, it was shown that the hero Stephen Nedumpally, who came to Kerala to settle a few political and social issues, is infact an underworld figure. In the final sequence, his character was elevated further to reveal that he is involved in what appeared to be international organised crime, with links across Europe, the Middle East and further afield. His international name is Khureshi Ab'raam. Going by Empuraan trailer, the story appears to be about yet another crisis emerging in Kerala, and Stephen/ Ab'raam is being called to return one more time to save Kerala/India.

Empuraan trailer review

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The trailer presents Mohanlal's character as being involved in 'security operations' in far-off places, deploying mercenaries and weapons on hire in different conflict zones from Africa to Middle East to Europe and everywhere in between. The trailer has hints of an international conflict which Ab'raam wants to end. It also has hints of some emerging crises in Kerala. By way of scale and ambitions of the film, it could be one of the most massive that Malayalam cinema has ever seen. There are multiple international actors, major explosions and fireworks.

Empuraan: Factors going in favour of the film

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Arguably the strongest point could be the writing of Murali Gopy, the actor-singer-writer who has managed to weave a complex tale with an ensemble cast and everchanging landscapes. His control of the narrative was what held together the first film. 

Lucifer was the directorial debut of Prithviraj Sukumaran, one of the most loved and bankable stars of Malayalam cinema. Prithvi, the son of the late yesteryear star Sukumaran, showed complete control of his craft, unexpected for a debutant, in Lucifer. He also played the role of a mercenary loyal to Mohanlal's character, making only a few appearances in the first film, careful not to overshadow Stephen Nedumpally.

Mohanlal's Empuraan becomes the first Malayalam movie to get an IMAX release

Then there is Mohanlal, a legend of Indian cinema who makes acting look like childsplay.

Empuraan: Could these factors go against the film?

Business factors, the current context of Malayalam cinema and its internal politics as well as hype vs reality could become crucial factors in the success of the film. 

Empuraan is coming out at a time of several turmoils in the Malayalam film industry, some of which had Mohanlal as a key focal point. Just months ago, he bravely faced off criricism on the handling of sexual abuse allegations and workplace problems faced by women in Kerala cinema, in the wake of the Hema committee report on the issue being made public. To his credit, when confronted by journalists while promoting his sports team, Mohanlal deftly handled the situation. 

Prithviraj Sukumaran hints at a post-credit scene in L2: Empuraan


The next was a controversy over actors producing films. Suresh Kumar, one of the top producers in Kerala, led a revolt of sorts, asking for a theatre ban on films produced by actors, which in his telling, was rendering producers irrelevant. Interesting side note: Mohanlal, many of whose films had been produced by Suresh for decades, is a producer himself. His Ashirvad Cinemas, started with his former driver-aide Antony Perumbavoor, is a co-producer of Empuraan, along with Sree Gokulam Movies and Lyca Productions.

In spite of their public camraderie, Suresh - Mohanlal's childhood classmate and collaborator - was in the opposite camp of the producer-actor tussle. There is also a view that the whole thing was to stymie the growth of Unni Mukundan, a rising star who also produced and starred in Marco, the ultraviolent Malayalam film that minted millions of rupees. At one point, it was reported that the boycott of actor-produced films could delay the release of Empuraan. 

Prithviraj Sukumaran teases Lucifer 3 with Mohanlal at L2: Empuraan press meet

But Mohanlal and his team managed to negotiate through these crises, and the film will release on March 27 as planned.

The budget of the film is another issue, as it will require massive numbers to recover cost.  Lyca Productions, one of the co-producers, faced financial issues because many of their recent productions mainly in Tamil language bombed at the box office. Lyca partially exited from Empuraan and Sree Gokulam Movies reportedly repaid some 75 crore rupees that Lyca had invested.

Then there is the fear of the 'Odiyan redux'.

Odiyan was a 2018 film for which Mohanlal went through a literal physical and facial transformation to look younger sans his trademark beard and moustache. The hype around the film was only matched by how it bombed.

L2: Empuraan becomes the first Malayalam film to cross $3.4m in pre-release sales

That failure can be partially attributed to 'day-one response video' trends, a new immediate verdict popularised on social media mainly by YouTubers. While a TV channel was interviewing a member of the audience for his views on Odiyan, someone from behind yelled expletives to say don't watch the film. The video went viral.

This new social media milieu is the key issue that Kerala filmmakers, like their peers in rest of India, have to wrestle with. The new generation, except for hardcore fans of the stars, wait for initial theatre response and online reviews of influencers as well as the common public.

Some of the YouTube film reviewers are brutal, often telling it like it is, and affecting the prospects of the films. The issue became so hot that there were heated debates in Kerala news channels, pitting producers against online reviewers, who the former accused of destroying multi-million rupee films with just few minutes of cheaply produced review videos. 

There's an even worse kind of review - the film roast - where the films are widely mocked.

This makes marketing and promotion of the movies even more expensive and daunting. The makers now deploy troll armies to hype up the comment sections of social media videos, and in the case of Mohanlal, he has an offline battalion of fans associations too for the job.

The one single issue that could go against the film is, simply put, expectation vs reality, and the market dynamics of investments against returns in the form of satellite TV rights, OTT rights and overseas business. Theatrical release and box office collections alone cannot assure the success of films in India anymore. Lyca's exit from the film was reportedly due to OTT and satellite rights not being sold.
 
This is a painful reality, particularly in the context of some recent flops of big-budget films of Mohanlal. Standing out among them are Barozz, and Kunhali Marakkar: Arabikadalite Simham. 
Barozz, Mohanlal's first directorial venture, was a 3D film made on a massive scale with international actors. But the children's film's CGI looked cheap and the storyline was thin and confusing, and the troll armies shared videos of children saying they slept through it. Marakkar, despite the national awards it had won, was something even its director and long-time Mohanal collaborator Priyadarshan himself wanted to forget.

Mohanlal the comeback king

Mohanlal was never away from the industry, going strong for more than four decades since his debut, with the occasional flop or two in recent years. So calling the 64-year-old a comeback king would not be fair. The veteran is known to deliver massive hits exactly when his career is seen taking a downturn. After a series of moderately successful films, there was Pulimurugan in 2015, which is known to be the fastest Malayalam film to cross ₹20 crore mark. The two Drishyam films would be another example. The crime thriller series, released in 2013 and 2021, did massive business and went on to be remade in multiple languages including Hindi, starring Ajay Devgn.

Lucifer, released in 2019, was yet another massive hit, having scored approximately ₹127 crores out of an estimated budget of ₹30 crore. But Empuraan is much more massive in ambition and scale. It was reportedly made at ₹180 crore and made around ₹60 crore in presales. If the amounts are true, this means at least 120 crores would need to be collected to break even, and anything above can only make it a hit.

So, will L2 Empuraan be a hit or a flop?

Well, we will know that in a week.
But let me say this: There was a teenager back in the 1990s who was a hardcore fan of Mohanlal, to the extent that he would fight with 'rivals' in college who were fans of the other superstar, Mammooty. That fan is this writer. And knowing the calibre of this great actor, the fan secretly wishes for L2E: Empuraan to do well.

So, godspeed, 'Lalettaa'!