“Lucifer,” the 2019 Prithviraj Sukumaran-directed magnum opus, grew by heaps and bounds on me with every re-watch, owing to how rooted and omnipresent Mohanlal’s character is throughout the film. The right mix of politics-that-mirrors-reality, visual grandeur, apt casting choices, directional and writing choices, a mighty despicable villain, and, to top it all, a glorious, larger-than-life Mohanlal fan service made the film work despite a less cohesive climactic sequence. Stephen’s story, rise, and influence in Kerala Politics remained rooted and convincing, although his unknown mysterious side as Khureshi Abra’am demanded an unavoidable suspension of disbelief.
While the tail-end suggested an unspoken side to Stephen Nedumpally – the ex-MLA of Nedumpally constituency, the king-maker, the self-confessed and abandoned dark angel as K-A aka Khureshi Abra’am, a mysterious international criminal who heads massive illegal transcontinental trade- the titular character and his intentions retained an element of intrigue. The audience cheered, hooted, and howled each time Stephen passed a look, smirked, or blurted sassy dialogues to his nemesis. The audience was curious to follow Stephen’s journey from an orphan adopted by the patriarch of Kerala Politics, PK Ramdas, to the notorious gangster KA. But, everything that made “Lucifer” novel is erased in its sequel, “Empuraan.”
****Spoiler Alert**** Do not read further if you haven’t watched the movie.
“Empuraan” begins with a large-scale bomb blast in a church, wounding MI6 agents. Of course, “Empuraan” is global, so we are going to see a lot of international players in the equation. This is followed by the opening credits song Empuraane, featuring the graphic visuals of the 2002 Godhra train blasts. By this time, we already know what’s in store for us. A very obvious fictional recreation of the 2002 Gujarat Riots and a flashback to Zayed Masood.
Mohanlal enters an hour later in “Empuraan,” much like “Lucifer,” but we do not crave Khureshi Abra’am as much as we crave Stephen Nedumpally – the savior and kingmaker in “Lucifer.” While Stephen Nedumpally’s presence could be felt in every frame of “Lucifer,” Mohanlal’s presence as KA lacks that euphoric punch in “Empuraan.” Despite the globe-trotting action, blazing guns, and grand-scale introduction crafted by the filmmakers, Mohanlal’s entry as KA—amidst swirling helicopters—pales in comparison to his second entrance, where he commands the screen with nothing but a simple black shirt and mundu. The much-talked-about jungle sequence and the reaction it garnered assert what made “Lucifer” special and what the audience was expecting in “Empuraan.”
Not only does the film get painfully boring every time the narrative shifts out of Kerala, but it also sticks out like a shallow, gimmicky, soulless piece of world-tour extravaganza. While Zayed Masood, who was a mere henchman to KA in “Lucifer” becomes a prominent second lead in “Empuraan,” Stephen and his Kerala become inconsequential. Every supporting character that had a distinctive layered persona in “Lucifer” gets the short end of the stick in “Empuraan.” Especially Tovino’s Jatin Ramdas, Indrajith’s Govardhan, Saikumar’s Home Minister Mahesh Verma, Saniya Ayyappan’s Janhvi, and Baiju Santhosh’s Murugan.
Zayed Masood’s flashback story adds little to nothing to the story or proceedings but eats up a chunk of the run-time. Besides recreating probably the most traumatic chapter in India’s political history (aka the Gujarat Riots) and the Bilkis Bano incident for generating instant anger points, the politics of “Empuraan” is pretty much still stuck in the moral ambiguity of 2019. To add more salt to the wounds, the rape scene is too long and is disturbingly graphic. It is beyond saddening that even in 2025, our filmmakers are stuck using violence against women as plot points for masculine revenge.
As the makers rehash the very same plot points of “Lucifer” six years later, Jatin Ramdas, who was as pivotal as Priyadarshini Ramdas in “Lucifer,” gets an unconvincing character arc in “Empuraan.” There are no explanations or justifications for the 180-degree turn his character takes or the out-of-character choices he makes. The writer pokes at every political party of the state as either dubious, nepotistic, and corrupt, or irrelevant, jingoistic, and harmful in unequal measures, but every criticism ends with some weakly written dialogues and surface-level commentary.
Coming to performances, Mohanlal elevates mediocrity with panache and his agility in a film that under-utilizes him. Prithviraj has a non-acting heavy role but is very fluid in action set-pieces. Abhimanyu Singh plays Baba Bajrangi and is probably one of the weakest links of “Empuraan”; it is no fault of his. Despite being a decent actor, he doesn’t come across as a threatening force to the mighty KA, and the stakes never really rise. Even after staging a 30-minute sequence to project his menace, I, for one, was left unmoved by his antagonist performance. “Lucifer” had a despicable Vivek Oberoi and an equally menacing voice from Actor Vineeth, which made the face-off scenes impactful. It also had an impactful performance from Kalabhavan Shahjohn.
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Murali Gopi’s screenplay and dialogues are questionably shallow and laughable, while Sujith Vasudev’s camera does a fine job. So is the film’s production design for giving it the visual appeal and grandeur. Deepak Dev’s music disappoints, as he heavily relies on the recall value of Lucifer’s hit numbers. The entry background scores of pivotal characters and the climactic showdown score are massively underscored, while KA’s background score is abysmal, to say the least. The editing department could have saved the film from its overlong duration, at least to an extent.
In short, “Empuraan” seemed like a film conceived only with its grandeur in mind and minimal substance. It has a massive scale but is painfully boring, unlike its predecessor. Characters somersault through their character arcs without any justifications, are stuffed with an overload of irrelevant cameos, and grossly underuse a star and actor of Mohanlal’s stature. With another sequel planned in line and a packed star cast in hand, there’s a lot that “Empuraan” could have achieved.
