“Empuraan” — a word excitedly repeated by Malayalam audiences ever since Lucifer. But now, it is rarely uttered without the word “controversy” on its tail.

Empuraan : Uncut Version.

*slight spoiler ahead, skip to the next heading if you don’t want it.*

The movie begins with visuals of a train burning up on the title card. In India, 2002, a man (his face not revealed) is speaking on the phone with his father when he is hacked to death.

Subhadra Ben, a Hindu heiress, offers protection to his father and family in her haveli. However, her nephew, Munna, betrays her by informing Bajrangi.
Bajrangi, named after Babu Bajrangi—the man sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the Naroda Patiya massacre—leads a violent mob that attacks and burns down everyone in the haveli, except for Zayed Masood.

The graphic scene provides a backstory for this crucial character in the franchise, establishes the villain, and emotionally invests the audience in what otherwise would have been an average mass movie.

Empuraan : Controversy

This bold reference to the 2002 Gujarat Riots, from the disturbing rape scenes to the name Bajrangi, attracted criticism from right-wing groups. Criticism that The Kerala Story, The Kashmir Files or The Sabarmati Report did not attract.

Earlier this year, the PM had allegedly praised The Sabarmati Report, a film on the same Godhra train tragedy.

The Kerala Story had falsely claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had been lured into converting to Islam and joining ISIS. In reality: “According to the US State Department’s Country Reports on Terrorism 2020, there were “66 known Indian-origin fighters affiliated” with the IS as of November 2020.” – BBC. Labelled as a true story, the film paints a fictional and straight-up absurd image of Kerala to an already biased audience. Yet it was offered tax-free status in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

However, Empuraan— a movie that depicts a Hindu woman providing shelter to Muslims during the Gujarat riots, and contains several dialogues criticising the use of religion as a political tool was accused of depicting “anti-national themes”.

List of Cuts in Empuraan 

Subsequently, Empuraan underwent 24 “voluntary cuts”, reducing its length by 2.08 seconds. The most notable cuts are:

• The antagonist’s name-change. To protect the image of whom?
• The time card stating “India-2002” now reads “A few years ago”. Because editing a piece of text will edit history?
• Four scenes depicting violence against women . Will erasing these movie scenes also erase memories?

Furthermore, mentions of the NIA, conversations between Zayed and Abram, and a religious structure often depicted when vehicles pass by a location have been censored.

I believe that these cuts were unnecessary and detrimental to the film’s emotional depth. Additionally, they affect the depth of Bajrangi’s character.

Ironically, this controversy merely proves the point of the movie. What the cuts have erased, reality has displayed.

Beyond Politics: Review from a Movie Perspective

The Bads

1. Despite being its sequel, Empuraan feels worlds apart from Lucifer. It is a mass movie with each scene demanding a mic-drop but lacking the emotive depth of its prequel.  
2. No character shows growth except Priyadarshini.
3. Mohanlal is all but a robot delivering grand entry after entry, completely invincible and beyond human sentiment.
4. Empuraan falls short of the simplistic charm trademark of mollywood.
5. Even while portraying a dystopian society (not a fictional concept anymore) the plot lacks conflict.

The Goods

1. It provides parallels to actual politics in Kerala and makes a bold statement.
2. Despite the lack of depth, theatres never fail to deliver claps and whistles for the characters in their defining moments.
3. The dialogue writing is pure gold. It’s one quote after another.
4. MANJU WARRIER.
5. It also depicts a limitless world. Unrealistic yet freeing in its possibilities.
6. MANJU WARRIER.
7. In an era when we can describe almost all movies using the word “brainrot”, Empuraan is a cry for change—a sequel highly anticipated by a young audience, an audience born long after the events of 2002, an audience rising into responsibility.  

Bottomline

Cut or uncut, Empuraan deserves appreciation for its daring. 24 cuts can’t take away from it the one thing that sets it apart from modern media: Dignity.