Actor Mohanlal on Sunday expressed “sincere regret for the mental distress caused to many I hold dear” by the political and social themes of his latest movie, Empuraan, which has caused a political storm in Kerala.
The Malayalam movie, which hit screens worldwide on Thursday, has angered several Hindutva organisations and leaders, who accused it of maligning Hindutva and trying to please “anti-national elements” with its references to the 2002 Gujarat riots and other scenes.
At the same time, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post that he had seen the movie and accused the Sangh Parivar of threatening the filmmakers into making changes in the film. “It has come out that the filmmakers were forced to edit the film under pressure. This atmosphere of fear created by the Sangh Parivar is worrying. It is not salubrious for democracy that communalists can destroy a work of art and maliciously attack artists on the ground that they have taken a stand against communalism and depicted its horror. In a democratic society, the freedom of expression of citizens must be protected,” the CM said.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who had previously expressed his wish to watch the film, changed his stance Sunday, saying he was disappointed by “this type of movie making” and that he would not be watching it.
Mohanlal on Sunday said in his Facebook post that the makers of Empuraan had decided to make changes in the movie. “Certain political and social themes that have emerged in the making of Empuraan, which is a second part of Lucifer, have pained a large number of people who love me. As an artiste, it is my responsibility to make sure that my film does not have any hostility towards any political movement, ideology or religious sect. Hence, I and the team of Empuraan sincerely regret the mental distress caused to those I hold dear. With the realisation that the responsibility for it lies with all of us who worked behind the film, we have decided together to remove such themes from the film.”
On Saturday, the makers of the movie had communicated their decision to make “voluntary modifications” to it and approach the regional censor board in Thiruvananthapuram in this regard.
Gokulam Gopalan, one of the producers of the movie, had said that if any dialogue or scene in the film had hurt anyone, he had told director Prithviraj Sukumaran to make necessary changes. “Certain words have already been muted. There is a protest against certain things in the film. I have asked the director to make the necessary changes. We are not involved in any politics,” Gopalan told reporters.
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Director Sukumaran and script writer Murali Gopy have not made any comment on the controversy.
Before Mohanlal posted his apology note, BJP state vice-president and filmmaker Major Ravi, while taking strong exception to the controversial references in the movie, mentioned his close links with the star and said, “I think he will apologise. He is pained over the issue. He is not in the habit of seeing a film before its release.”
BJP state president Chandrasekhar, in his Facebook post on Sunday, said, “I had watched Lucifer and liked it. I had said that I would watch Empuraan when I heard it was a sequel to Lucifer.”
“But now I have come to know that the makers of the movie themselves have made 17 amendments in the movie and that the movie is undergoing re-censorship. I understand that there were topics in the movie that disturbed Mohanlal fans and other viewers. A movie should be watched as a movie. It can’t be seen as history. Also, any movie that tries to build a story by distorting the truth is doomed to fail. So, will I watch this sequel to Lucifer? No. Am I disappointed by this type of moviemaking? — Yes,” he said.
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On Thursday, the day Empuraan was released, Chandrasekhar had wished the film’s team all the best in a Facebook post: “Best wishes, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, and team! Look forward to watching and enjoying #L2E #Empuraan one of these days!”
Chief Minister Vijayan said the Sangh was unhappy because the film referenced a “heinous genocides”.
“The reference in the movie to one of the most heinous genocides in the country has left its masterminds, Sangh Parivar, angry. Leaders of BJP and RSS have been openly raising threats (against the movie),” he said.
He called threats against artists a violation of democratic rights. “The freedom of expression of a citizen should be protected in a democratic society. Violent calls to destroy and ban artwork and artists are new manifestations of a fascist approach. That is a violation of democratic rights. The right to make films, watch them, enjoy them, evaluate them, agree or disagree should not be lost. For this, the voice of the country, which is rooted in democratic and secular values, should be raised together,” he said.
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Senior Congress MLA and Opposition leader V D Satheesan also echoed the same view. Extending support for the makers of Empuraan, he said, “Sangh Parivar does not know much about history and their habit has been of distorting history. For Sangh Parivar, freedom of expression means the freedom for works which have been created in their favour. Their agenda is to celebrate such distorted works. Film is the creation of a bunch of artists. Correcting the content of an artwork through threat and insult on social media is not a success. That is the indication of a complete failure and cowardice. Let us not forget that no matter how much we try to cover up, historical truths will always stand out.”
