L2 Empuraan's list of 24 cuts: Gujarat riots reference, villain name, Suresh Gopi's thank you card tweaked

Prithviraj Sukumaran's L2 Empuraan, featuring Mohanlal, went through some changes so as not to ‘hurt sentiments’. Take a look at changes made.

Actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran’s recent Malayalam film, L2 Empuraan, starring Mohanlal, ran into controversy after its release on March 27. The film made some references to the 2002 Gujarat riots that did not go down well with a section of the audience. 24 cuts have been made to the film, with 2 minutes and 8 seconds of footage removed. Take a look at what was tweaked. (Also Read: Suresh Gopi dismisses L2 Empuraan controversy over Gujarat riot scene as ‘all business’: ‘Screwing psyche of people’)

Mohanlal headlines L2 Empuraan, which also features an ensemble cast.

L2 Empuraan loses 2 minutes of footage, makes these changes

A trade analyst posted the list of 24 changes and cuts approved by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the fresh certification the producers of L2 Empuraan received after the cuts. The list reveals that thank you cards mentioning actor-politician Suresh Gopi and Additional Commissioner Income Tax, Jyothi Mohan IRS, were removed and adjusted with other thank you cards.

A card mentioning a specific period was replaced with ‘a few years ago’, and scenes of vehicles passing in front of a religious structure were cut out. Conversations between Masood (Satyajit Sharma) and Zayed Masood (Prithviraj), Balraj (Abhimanyu Singh) and Munna (Sukant Goel) were moved. Some other scenes with Balraj were removed and the name he uses later in the film, Bhajarangi, was changed to Baldev.

Visuals depicting violence against women were removed, as was a name board on a car, visuals depicting TV news, and a religious structure.

About the controversy

Since the controversy broke, Mohanlal issued an apology. Mallika also came to her son Prithviraj's defence when people claimed that Mohanlal wasn't made aware of the controversial scenes in the film. Producer Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas, spoke to the press in Kochi, according to PTI and confirmed they were trimming down the film. However, he denied it was due to any ‘pressure or threats’.