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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchThe makers of L2: Empuraan, a Malayalam film directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and starring Mohanlal, announced changes to the film after a campaign over scenes that critics said resembled the 2002 Gujarat riots. Mohanlal said the team regretted the emotional distress the scenes had caused and had collectively decided to remove them. The Indian Express later reported a revised cut with 27 cuts totaling 128 seconds, covering the flashback text, a character name, riot imagery, the opening credits and a reference to the National Investigation Agency (NIA).
The film opened in theatres on March 27, 2025. The sections below cover what was reported to have changed, the sequence of events, why critics made the comparison, and which points remain unsettled.
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What was reported to have changed
The Indian Express published a breakdown of the revised version on April 3, 2025. The table lists each change as that account described it. This article has not compared the revised cut against the film itself, so treat the table as reported detail rather than a frame-by-frame audit.
| Element | Reported change in the revised version | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Flashback title card | “2002-India” changed to “A few years ago” | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
| Character name | Baba Bajrangi changed to Baldev in several scenes | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
| Riot imagery | An image of a religious structure with rioters’ cars passing was removed; some shops were trimmed | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
| Violence against women | A violence-against-women scene was removed or trimmed, including a 29-second scene | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
| Opening credits | Credits thanking Suresh Gopi and Jyothis Mohan were removed | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
| NIA reference | The reference was muted | The Indian Express, April 3, 2025 |
Timeline from release to revised cut
- March 27, 2025: L2: Empuraan opens in theatres.
- March 30, 2025: Scroll reported that the makers planned more than 17 “voluntary modifications” after outrage from Hindutva groups over the film’s depiction of communal violence. The same day, Mohanlal issued a public statement, reproduced by Hindustan Times, and Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan posted a response on X.
- March 31, 2025: India Today published a chronology of the sequence and statements from the producers and director, which this article treats as supplementary reporting.
- April 3, 2025: The Indian Express published its explainer listing the changes shown in the table above.
Why critics linked the film to the 2002 Gujarat riots
The comparison rests on how the film’s opening material reads to viewers and reporters, not on an explicit statement that the story is set in Gujarat. The Indian Express notes that the flashback card reads “2002-India” and does not name Gujarat. Critics and coverage read the opening-credit imagery and newspaper clippings as linking the flashback to the riots.
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The same reporting describes parallels that viewers drew between the fictional antagonist and Babu Bajrangi, and between the fictional violence and events including Naroda Patiya. These are interpretations made by critics and by viewers quoted in coverage. They are not a finding the film’s makers have stated.
For context, the Indian Express reported that 59 people were killed in the Godhra train burning on February 27, 2002, and that more than 1,000 people were killed in the Gujarat riots that followed. Those figures are as the newspaper reported them in 2025; they are not drawn from official records in this article.
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Who said what
Mohanlal
Hindustan Times reproduced Mohanlal’s statement on March 30, 2025. He expressed regret for the emotional distress the scenes caused and wrote: “As an artiste, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films produce hate towards any political movement, ideology or religious group.” He also said the team “have collectively decided to remove such scenes from the film.” These are his words; they are not an independent finding about the film’s content.
Pinarayi Vijayan
Scroll reproduced a post on X by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from March 30, 2025: “The communal hate campaign against Empuraan and its creators is deeply disturbing.” The post criticized the campaign and defended creative freedom.
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The censor board’s position
Scroll quoted an unidentified official at the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) regional office in Thiruvananthapuram: “There is provision for voluntary modification of a film already certified by the Censor Board.” The official said filmmakers could approach the board for such modifications, and Scroll reported that the specific changes were left to the makers’ discretion. Because the official was not named, this is a description of the process rather than an on-the-record statement from the board.
Hindutva groups
Coverage attributes the backlash to Hindutva groups. Hindutva is a political ideology, and the groups described in the reporting are a specific set of organizations. They should not be read as representing Hindu people as a whole, and the claims made by those groups are reported in the coverage rather than independently verified here.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Reading the reported counts
Two figures are in circulation, and they describe different things. They are not interchangeable.
- More than 17 planned modifications: Scroll, March 30, 2025. This describes changes the makers planned at that stage.
- 27 cuts totaling 128 seconds: The Indian Express, April 3, 2025. This describes the revised cut as the newspaper reported it.
The earlier figure is a plan and the later one describes the revised version, so the gap reflects reporting at different points rather than a contradiction between sources.
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What remains unsettled
- Motives: Coverage describes the makers’ public statements and the reported edits. It does not establish why the filmmakers made particular choices.
- Intent: The resemblance to the 2002 riots is a contested reading by critics and viewers. It is not a statement of authorial intent.
- Current versions: The reporting cited here dates from March and April 2025. This article does not verify which cut is currently screening in theatres or streaming on any platform in 2026. Viewers should check the version offered by the platform or venue they use.
- Censor board detail: The procedural point about voluntary modification comes from an unnamed official quoted by Scroll, and no further official record of the process is cited here.
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