How much solemn politics is too much solemn politics in an out-and-out action movie that aspires to be much more than just a vehicle for three of Kerala’s top male stars? No matter what L2: Empuraan, toplined by a superstar who has ruled the roost for decades and helmed by another who pulls out the stops both as director and actor, packs into its three hours by way of larger commentary, the gap between intent and result not only refuses to go away, but also fluctuates wildly.
There is, of course, no known limit to what degree, and sort, of topical relevance a thriller must attain in order to break free of its genre confines and assume elevating social significance. L2: Empuraan, a Malayalam tentpole production whose Hindi dub is in theatres nationwide, is anything but frugal with its barbs at the abuse of power and the pitfalls of personality cults.
The second part of a planned trilogy that began with the 2019 hit Lucifer, this Prithviraj Sukumaran-directed potboiler mixes up its visceral chops, ultra-violent spirals into excess and visual pizzazz with all-out attempts to show up forces that are out to destabilise Kerala in a fictional world that intermittently mirrors the real one in which those in authority lay down the rules to suit their immediate agendas.
A character who does not survive the first 30 minutes of the blood-soaked film asserts that the mixing of rajneeti and dharm can be barood. L2: Empuraan, buoyed primarily by the presence of Mohanlal as a brooding, identity-shifting dispenser of instant justice, takes that dictum very seriously and lets a lot of things, including parts of itself, go up in flames.
To be sure, the film has no dearth of style. Fire is its leitmotif and corners engulfed in great darkness its favoured area of operation. Explosions and conflagrations occur without respite. Mansions, trees, choppers, vehicles and even a human being (with a bomb strapped to him) are blown to smithereens or reduced to ashes as the stage is set for Lucifer to play ruthless law-enforcer.
The screenplay by Murali Gopy, who also wrote Lucifer, follows the rules of the game in a simplistic sort of way and adds nothing fresh to the exercise. Worse, it is littered with in-built spoilers. The audience can guess from miles away what is round the corner.
In its opening chapter, a massacre occurs in and on the grounds of a village mansion in 2002. A young boy lives to tell the tale but vanishes from the scene with the fire of vengeance burning in his heart. Thus is born one of the the revenge saga’s two heroes.
Later in the film, a blast occurs inside a building in a northern Iraq ghost town (the incident also constitutes a quick prelude). The film’s other male protagonist is presumed dead in the explosion. But we all know almost instantly that the demise will be just that – a mere presumption.
L2: Empuraan has other moments that take all guesswork out of the equation and in the process undermine the overall impact of the film.
Priyadarshini Ramdas (Manju Warier) resolves to attend a rally to stake claim to the political legacy of her departed father PK Ramdas (Sachin Khedekar, seen only in one sequence) against the wishes of her brother Jathin Ramdas (Tovino Thomas). it is easy to predict that there will be big trouble for her at the gathering. Its nature and quantum are the only points of interest here.
The film is more guts than glory, more flash than fullness. Yet in terms of its technical attributes it cannot be faulted with the exception of some of the visual effects that are rather rudimentary for a movie of this scale and ambition.
L2: Empuraan traverses the entire globe as Stephen Nedumpally/Kureishi Ab’raam (Mohanlal) goes hell for leather, striding around with imperious authority — he is the Empuraan of the title, a man who can do no wrong although he has descended into a amoral cesspool where he cannot be anything but the Devil Incarnate on a mission.
The Beelzebub in him, like John Milton’s fallen angel, scours the global underworld of drug dealers and arms smugglers and, the corridors inhabited by power brokers in his home state. His intent, however, is noble. He aims to rid Kerala of elements that threaten its existence.
Just as evil is often posited as an antidote to evil, assumed and strategic satanism serves to counter worse forms of venality. Stephen/Ab’raam, who has been away from the state for five years, says something to the effect that it is divine to forgive but human to wreak revenge. He dangles somewhere between the two states of being and helps Zayed Masood (Prithviraj Sukumaran) to do what is human.
L2: Empuraan opens with Lord Acton’s done-to-death aphorism “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The exercise of power assumes different dimensions in the film. Some politicians simply cling to their seats without causing any ripples.
Others, led by Balraj Patel (Abhinamnyu Singh), Sajanachandran, a rabble-rousing leader of Akhand Shakti Morcha (the only political outfit in the film with a Hindi name, suggesting its non-Kerala provenance) and Balraj’s viciously duplicitous younger brother Munna (Sukant Goel) seek to inject venom into the veins of the people.
Cartels, international crime syndicates and secret agents are, of course, also in here, sparking chaos with their actions until Ab’raam and Zayed pop up – the former an hour into film, the latter in the second half – to do what they are here for, try and set things right.
The principal bad guy in Lucifer was a local man, Bimal “Bobby” Nair, played by Vivek Oberoi. Here, the role goes to a wicked man from North India, who joins forces with elements within the state. What Lucifer 3, announced grandly via a couple of post-climax sequences, promises is an international villain, a leader of a triad based in China.
An expansion of the canvas is on the cards but the core of the thriller seems destined to focus on the continuance of the power struggle within Kerala and of the depredations of vile men who will stop at nothing.
The film’s producers – Antony Perumbavoor of Ashirvad Cinemas, Gokulam Gopalan of Sree Gokulam Movies and A. Subaskaran of Lyca Production – do not not seem to believe that they have any reason to stop yet. Why would they? They’ve got a good thing going. Its tried and tested ingredients that are paying off.
L2: Empuraan could have done with more weight and depth. Both are beyond it. Its sporadic hig points notwithstanding, it somehow always delivers markedly less than it promises.
