KOCHI: Amid pressure from right-wing groups, the makers of Empuraan have deleted 24 scenes, including changing the antagonist's name from Bajrangi to Baldev, removing the 'NIA' nameplate from the car, altering Hindu religious structures, and cutting a scene involving violence against a pregnant woman.
The total removal of 2.08 minutes from the film follows backlash from the Sangh Parivar, including the RSS, who claimed the film depicted the 2002 Gujarat riots without showing the Godhra train burning incident that triggered the violence.
The makers of the Mohanlal-starring movie also removed a thanks card to BJP MP and actor Suresh Gopi. The re-edited and re-censored version of the film is expected to be released from Tuesday evening or Wednesday, according to sources, though there is still no clarity on this.
The change in Bajrangi's name to Baldev follows reports that the name resembled that of Babu Bajrangi, a leader of the Gujarat wing of Bajrang Dal, who was among those accused (later acquitted) in the Gujarat riots case.
Responding to the controversy surrounding Empuraan, Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas refuted rumours that Mohanlal was not fully aware of the movie's story. Speaking to the media in Kochi, he said, "Mohanlal had watched the entire movie before its release and was fully aware of the story." He also rejected Major Ravi's statement that the Malayalam superstar was unaware of the storyline.
Antony further denied allegations that director Prithviraj Sukumaran is being isolated by the Empuraan team. "We have never isolated him. We have been good acquaintances for many years. We had jointly decided to make the film. It was not made to stir up controversy," said Antony.
He also stated that if any mistakes in the film were pointed out, they would correct them. Antony outrightly denied that the filmmakers considered themselves to be in the wrong. "We have made many films before Empuraan. We only make films that we feel are right," he added. He also denied that the film was resubmitted for cuts due to pressure from the Sangh Parivar.
"The decision to resubmit the film before the censor board was not made due to any outside pressure or threats," said Antony. "Since we are living amicably in society, we felt the need to right what we understood to be mistakes," he added.
