BENGALURU: In a city of diverse people, cultures and traditions, the love for art and cinema serves to bind. The recent buzz on ‘L2: Empuraan’ directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, starring Manju Warrier, Mohanlal and Tovino Thomas, is making waves across social media, with tickets sold out a week in advance.
In a rare move, Good Shepherd College MD Tojan John declared a special holiday to coincide with the film’s release. “The movie is releasing on Thursday; my students have to wait until Saturday. Many of them came and requested me that they wanted to see the movie,” said John. Interestingly, he himself is a hardcore movie buff. “We bunked college to watch movies and faced many problems, my students should not face that. I am a big Mohanlal fan. Our college landline number is 080 2255 2255; we have eight to nine vehicles with registration numbers ending with 2255. Our cafe is called Cafe 2255,” he says, referring to a Mohanlal movie scene.
A Malayalam movie’s success before its release in a city outside Kerala, is a reflection of the power of cinema. City-based film content-creator Anjali R Pillai notes, “It’s a sweet gesture and a testament to how cinema unites us. When a film like Empuraan releases, it is nothing less than a celebration...”
Emil Bosco, a student, says, “Everybody, not only Malayali students, will get a chance to experience the movie. With the holiday, we won’t miss our classes.”
As the frenzy spreads, fans across the city are eager to watch the movie, unconcerned that the release date is a working day. “I will be going for the early morning show, so I can log in to work after that. I wish it could be a national holiday,” jokes Aswin Sasidharan Nair, a finance analyst.
Pillai, who is a corporate employee, shares, “March is a particularly hectic month, so taking a day off isn’t an option. But I still plan to watch it on release day. I could hardly find a seat since bookings were full on March 27.”