L2: Empuraan starts with the massacre of a Muslim crowd by Hindus in North India and emphasises that such incidents shouldn’t be allowed to take root in Kerala. It warns Kerala against the divisive tactics of the saffron brigade and its North Indian leaders, urging that they should be repelled at all costs. This massacre also serves as the backdrop for Zayed Masoon’s (Prithviraj Sukumaran) backstory. He is a trusted aide to Lucifer/ Khureshi Ab’raam / Stephen Nedumpally (Mohanlal), and was the sole survivor of the massacre. On the verge of becoming a radicalised Muslim terrorist, he is rescued by Lucifer and raised as a brother.
When Kerala CM Jathin Ramdas (Tovino Thomas) shakes hands with North Indian leader Baba Bajrangi (Abhimanyu Singh) and offers him an inroad into Kerala, his own sister Priyadarshini Ramdas (Manju Warrier) steps up against him. She is saved from Bajrangi by Stephen Nedumpally, who supports her in her fight against communal politics. However, Stephen is also Khureshi Ab’raam, a gold smuggler waging a global war against drug smuggling and human trafficking. His mission makes him an enemy of international law enforcement and rival mafia clans, and he’s shown battling them across various countries worldwide. His nemesis, a Chinese gang, finally catches up with him at the end, setting the stage for yet another sequel.
Abhimanyu Singh, as Baba Bajrangi, feels more like a caricature than an actual person. He really doesn’t live up to the mantle of the menacing villain at all. Both Lucifer and Masood could have killed him eons ago, so it’s puzzling why they wait for him to show up in Kerala for their final confrontation. There’s a hint of a romance between Priyadarshini and Stephen, but it isn’t explored properly. Manju Warrier, a talented actress, should have been utilised better in the film. The viewers do need a breather and the heady dose of violence and politics could have done with a side helping of romance. Prithviraj too comes on screen only towards the latter half. We would have loved to see more of him and learn more about him. In the present form, Masood is more of a one-dimensional character.
Indrajith Sukumaran as Govardhan is given a nice twist at the end and will serve as an interesting character in the sequel. One can only write about Mohanlal in superlatives. He just glides through the film with customary elan and yet again has made acting look easy. And while we love him in an international avatar, we feel his character would have had more gravitas wearing a traditional Mundu and shirt combination. We see it briefly in the jungle scene and the whole sequence got more whistles and claps than the rest of the film combined.
L2: Empuraan is more of a cautionary tale against the saffronisation of our secular society than an action film. While the action scenes are imaginatively framed, the 180-minute length needed to be curtailed. There’s too much gap between these high-octane moments, especially in the first half, leaving the film to coast on Mohanlal’s swag. Director Prithviraj Sukumaran has sacrificed storytelling on the altar of his political beliefs. It takes heart to make such a film, which preaches communal harmony and unity, in today’s environment, and we hope that viewers take home the lesson it contains.
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