Over the years, Murali Gopy has donned quite a few hats in cinema—screenwriter, actor, lyricist, playback singer, and composer. Among them, his much-valued screenwriter's hat is embellished with a rich variety of vibrant feathers—read genres. Hyperlink thriller, political drama, socio-political drama, satire... It's a versatile filmography so far.
Lucifer (2019), his first attempt at scripting a superstar film, saw him succeeding in pushing the envelope of a mainstream entertainer. A widely-celebrated film, Lucifer had a lot going for it—strong content, unique narrative structure, ambitious scale, an ensemble of excellent performers led by a superstar in supreme form, and a grand vision. Six years later, that grand vision of Murali Gopy and director Prithviraj Sukumaran is one step closer to reality with the release of L2: Empuraan, the second instalment in the Lucifer trilogy.
Even as there's an unprecedented frenzy around the film's release on March 27, Murali Gopy cuts a picture of imperturbable composure. It's as if he has shut himself away from all the hype around him. "I always believe in doing my best and then allowing myself some rest. Only the effort is in your hands; the result isn't," he says, channeling his inner Zen.
In this conversation, we try to get a peek into Murali Gopy's writing techniques and how meticulously he builds the world of Lucifer.
Excerpts
You had earlier mentioned that Lucifer was conceived as a web series and later as a three-part franchise. With the first part becoming such a massive success, did that influence you in making Empuraan a bigger crowd-pleaser?
There has never been any deliberate effort on my part to make any of the films I have written to be a 'crowd pleaser'. Having said that, I sincerely believe that entertainment is and must be a key factor to any mainstream movie. I have always considered content to be the king. Even there, entertainment has to be the crown.
Are there more challenges in writing a franchise film like this as compared to a standalone feature? Because every detail is important and has to make sense by the finale...
The narrative template and dramatic progression of this franchise got set within, right at the point of inception. So, there needn’t be any added stress here. The continuum happens by itself. One just has to put the pen to paper.
Prithviraj compared your writing to cloud formation. Could you elaborate on that?
There is an incubation period for each screenplay before it gets downloaded onto the paper, at least with me. Once it has formed fully within, the delivery is only a matter of time.
Your writing process involves handing over the bound script months in advance and Prithviraj later working on it. But have you ever thought of writing and improvising on the go, which is also a common practice these days?
Once I give the bound script, it is up to the director to sit with it and comprehend the wheres and the hows and whats of it. Once that process is over, we sit together and discuss it fully, clear doubts (if any), and effect mutually agreeable improvisations (if any), before it gets locked finally.
How do you and Prithviraj resolve your differences of opinion?
Rather than a difference of opinion, I would call it a difference in conception vantages. Such things are normal even with directors making movies on already-established books. The view of the director may not always be in tandem with the originally conceived one on paper. But with us, it has so far been more agreements than clash points.
There seems to be an unspoken understanding between you two. How do you rate him as a filmmaker?
Highly. And there have been moments when his deft directorial touches have added gloss to the written word.
Lucifer is appreciated for its many layers and political undertones, but it's still a highly entertaining film even on a superficial level. It's important because many watch films just to relax and have fun, not as a brainy exercise. How do you ensure this packaging?
Again, it is not deliberate. I write the way I write, about things that I really feel like writing. It is a result of many forces converging. It could be angst, intuition, helplessness, elation… It is the theme that dictates the literary trajectory and not the writer. So, packaging, if any, just happens by itself.
But do you ever think of the audience while writing? As in, to include high moments at regular junctures...
Even when I write in absolute solitude, it is not that I'm alone in the true sense of the word. Any mainstream writer hosts within his/her interiority a mass of many men, many voices. So, it is a collective force at play, within the mind.
Mohanlal is there for just around 40 minutes in Lucifer, but his presence is felt throughout. How do you ensure that on paper?
Stephen Nedumpally is like the sun. No earthling directly looks at the sun to ensure that the star is around; it is the warmth, the sweat, and the light that announce the presence. Stephen unveils his aura not entirely through an assertive physical presence but through the revolution, rotation, and evolution of the planets that swarm him.
In the Indian 'mass cinema' context, we have seen numerous films with a protagonist leading a meek and subdued life but actually having a dark past. On a superficial level, Lucifer also has a similar grammar. But unlike other films of this template, both Stephen Nedumpally and Khureshi-Ab'raam are equally powerful. Do you follow a separate approach while writing their portions?
There is nothing wrong in pursuing a formula, as long as there are original and effective narrative tweaks to supplement it. The theme of 'alter ego' is as old as the hills. But even now, there are surprising angles getting explored there. Both Stephen and KA are powerful, but as you said, the syntax of power is diametrically opposite to each other. And therein lies the tweak.
In Lucifer, Stephen warns about the threat of a dangerous drug influx to Kerala, which has become an unfortunate reality in the state today. Do you consciously try to share such societal concerns through your characters?
As I said, such concerns and intuitions do find their way to the paper.
Even in an otherwise serious content-oriented film, you smartly employed an old Mohanlal film reference—"Narcotics is a dirty business". Did it fall in place organically or was it a deliberate choice to play to the gallery?
There are a few such pastiches, which are consciously included in Lucifer to invoke cinematic remembrances. What you cited here is one such. It is my pastiche to SN Swami sir’s much-remembered line in Irupatham Noottandu (1987).
This franchise has many pivotal characters. Since you're also an actor, did you ever think of writing a part for yourself?
I never think along those lines with anything I write. Except when there is a creative consensus, which includes myself too, that I would be good in a certain character, I don’t think along those lines at all.
How much writing has progressed for the third part or would you rather wait for Empuraan's response before taking it forward?
All three parts have already been outlined within.
After having created something as ambitious as this franchise, would you still be interested in scripting a simple commercial entertainer like Rasikan (2004)?
Absolutely. I'm not a prisoner of any particular genre. You can take a scan of my oeuvre, for proof.
What can you tell us about your upcoming film directed by Jiyen Krishnakumar?
It is my second screenplay for him, after Tiyaan (2017). It will be a mix-and-match kind of film, with elements of multiple genres blended in. Arya, Indrans, Dev Mohan, Appani Sarath, Santhy Balachandran, Nikhila Vimal, and I play the main characters. S Vinod Kumar of Mini Studios is producing it and Ajaneesh Loknath does the music. It will be a multi-lingual release.
Finally, any recent film that you loved purely for its writing?
The Zone of Interest (2023) and the Netflix series Adolescence.