• Source: L2: Empuraan

L2: Empuraan (stylised as E.M.P.U.R.A.A.N), also called L2E, is an upcoming Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran and written by Murali Gopy. It is the second instalment in a planned trilogy, following the 2019 film Lucifer. The film is jointly produced by Lyca Productions and Aashirvad Cinemas. It stars Mohanlal as Stephen Nedumpally / Khureshi Ab'raam alongside an ensemble featuring Ma Dong-seok, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Saniya Iyappan, Saikumar, Baiju Santhosh, Fazil and Sachin Khedekar all of whom are reprising their roles from the original.
Lucifer was always intended to be a series from its inception, originally conceived as a three-part film. The first part was made into the film Lucifer. The success of the first film led to the decision to proceed with the second instalment in the series. The announcement for Empuraan was made in June 2019, and production, originally planned for mid-2020, faced delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Murali took the opportunity to expand the scale and scope of Empuraan. The screenplay was finalised in July 2022, and pre-production began the following month. Lyca Productions joined as a producer in 2023, marking their debut in Malayalam, alongside Aashirvad Cinemas, the producer of the original. The film's music was composed by Deepak Dev.
Principal photography began on October 5, 2023, in Faridabad. Subsequent sporadic schedules took place at various locations, including Shimla, Leh, the United Kingdom, United States, Russia, Chennai, Mumbai, New Delhi, Morocco, Kerala, Gujarat, Hyderabad and United Arab Emirates. Empuraan is scheduled to be released in theatres worldwide on 27 March 2025.




Cast


Mohanlal as Stephen Nedumpally / Khureshi Ab'raam
Adarsh as Young Stephen
Prithviraj Sukumaran as Zayed Masood
Karthikeya Dev as Young Zayed
Manju Warrier as Priyadarshini Ramdas / Priya
Angelina Abraham as Young Priyadarshini
Tovino Thomas as Jathin Ramdas
Indrajith Sukumaran as Govardhan
Suraj Venjaramoodu as Politician
Saniya Iyappan as Jhanvi
Saikumar as Mahesha Varma
Baiju Santhosh as Murugan
Fazil as Father Nedumpally
Sachin Khedekar as P. K. Ramdas aka P. K. R
Rick Yune
Steven Yeun
Eriq Ebouaney as Kabuga
Arjun Das
Abhimanyu Singh
Nandu as P. S. Peethambaran
Shivaji Guruvayoor as Medayil Rajan
Manoj K Jayan as Jayadevan, Priyadarshini's First Husband
Bobby Simha as NIA Officer Karthik Ramaswamy
Pasupathy as NIA Officer
Sharaf U Dheen as Ajai,Jhanvi's Love Interest
Shine Tom Chacko
Rahul Madhav
K.R Gokul
Nyla Usha as Arundathi Sanjeev
Giju John as Sanjeev Kumar
Aneesh G. Menon as Sumesh
Sshivada as Govardhan's Wife
Shaun Romy as Aparna
Sunil Sukhada as Manapattil Chandy
Binu Pappu as Jail Warden, Mathew
Sijoy Varghese as PR Agent
Bala as Bhadran
Shakti Kapoor as Sanghani
Alexx O'Nell as Rob, Interpol officer
Jaise Jose as Stephan's Assistant
Murugan Martin as Muthu
V. K. Baiju as News Reporter
Rajesh Babu as DGP Faizal Muhammad
Matlyda Bajer as Jacqueline
Parvathy Menon Shijith as P. K. R's Wife
Prarthana Sandeep as Govardhan's Daughter
Vivek Oberoi as Bobby / Bimal Nair (Cameo Appearance)
Kalabhavan Shajon as Aloshy Joseph (Cameo Appearance)
John Vijay as Mayilvahanam IPS (Cameo Appearance)
Suresh Chandra Menon as Abdul (Cameo Appearance)




Production






= Development

=
No official announcement of a follow-up was made for Lucifer (2019), despite its open ending. The possibility of a continuation was confirmed by writer Murali Gopy in an April 2019 interview, shortly after the release of Lucifer. He clarified that "Lucifer is definitely designed as a franchise, and it is very evident from its structure and progression." The official announcement of a second film and its title took place during a press conference on 18 June 2019. Shedding light on the meaning of the title, Prithviraj Sukumaran said that Empuraan signifies "someone who is more than a king, but less than a god," with a more literal translation being "overlord". Murali revealed that Lucifer was conceived as a series right from its inception. The success of the first film gave them confidence to proceed with Empuraan, said Prithviraj. Production was planned to commence in the second half of 2020.
In September 2019, Prithviraj further revealed that Empuraan is part of a three-film series. The trilogy was originally envisioned as a three-season web series, the first season was transformed into the film Lucifer, while the second and third seasons were adapted for the subsequent instalments. Prithviraj clarified that Empuraan does not continue the story of Lucifer but rather delves into the events that occurred before and after it, and that they have built "a franchise structure that visits every aspect of the story". Murali hinted that Empuraan would unveil more layers of the narrative.
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the postponement of the production. In September 2020, Murali presented a comprehensive design brief of Empuraan to Prithviraj, who stated that it assisted him in visualising an edited and colour-corrected version of the film. Pre-production, that was set to begin in 2021, was again delayed due to the pandemic. In the meantime, Prithviraj directed another film, Bro Daddy (2022), in the third quarter of 2021. In October 2021, Prithviraj disclosed that they were still waiting for the pandemic situation to subside, as they could not proceed with location scouting under that situation and expressed hope to start filming by mid-2022.
In 2022, Murali revealed plans to "scale up the magnitude and scope" of Empuraan. He was in the process of writing the screenplay in May 2022, which he completed that month. In July, Prithviraj announced the completion of Empuraan's final script and informed lead actor Mohanlal and returning producer Antony Perumbavoor. The following month, the team officially announced through social media that they had entered the pre-production phase, "we are starting the actual process of making the film from today (17 August 2022)", wrote Prithviraj. Murali categorised Empuraan as a second instalment rather than a sequel. Prithviraj described the film as a "commercial entertainer". In September 2023, the Tamil film production house Lyca Productions announced their involvement in the production of Empuraan, marking their debut in Malayalam cinema, along with Aashirvad Cinemas, the producer of Lucifer. Additionally, Prithviraj's company Prithviraj Productions is credited for "project design".




= Casting

=
Mohanlal reprises his role of Stephen Nedumpally / Khureshi Ab'raam. During the film's announcement, it was revealed that Prithviraj's character Zayed Masood would have more prominence in Empuraan. Prithviraj said that Zayed's role in Stephen's life is bigger than what was shown in Lucifer. In February 2020, Tovino Thomas confirmed his involvement in the project. In February 2023, Baiju Santhosh confirmed that he would reprise his role as Murugan. Manju Warrier, Indrajith Sukumaran, Saikumar, Fazil and Sachin Khedekar were also confirmed to reprise their respective roles. In May 2023, Suraj Venjaramoodu, Arjun Das, Sharafudheen, Shine Tom Chacko, and Rahul Madhav were cast in pivotal roles. In October, Saniya Iyappan was confirmed to return as Jhanvi, despite her earlier decision to take a break to pursue a bachelor's degree in acting.




= Filming

=
Following a six-month-long location scouting process in India, which concluded in February 2023, the film crew embarked on a recce in international locations. Principal photography was originally scheduled to commence on 15 August. However, it was postponed after Prithviraj sustained an injury on the sets of Vilayath Buddha. Production eventually began with a customary muhurtam shot on 5 October at Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi and Haryana. It primarily featured foreign actors and extras. Shooting was shifted to Shimla, Himachal Pradesh after a day of shooting in Faridabad. Filming also took place in Leh, Ladakh. First schedule was completed in Ladakh on 28 October. The crew has mostly utilised practical effects for the action sequences. The stunts were choreographed by Stunt Silva. Sujith Vaassudev and Mohandas were retained as the cinematographer and art director respectively. Nirmal Sahadev served as the creative director. Suresh Balaje and George Pius of Wide Angle Creations served as the film's line producers.
The crew went for location scouting in London in November. The second schedule took place in January 2024 across the United Kingdom. Tovino Thomas and Indrajith Sukumaran joined production during the third schedule in the United States, with Albuquerque, New Mexico, Louisiana, and New York serving as the locations. The fourth schedule was shot at Chennai before moving to Kerala. The sixth schedule at Gujarat started from June 2024, however production was temporarily halted due to heavy rainfall. Filming resumed on the last week of September 2024 and the remaining portions at Gujarat wrapped up in thirteen days, after which the Crew immediately shifted to Hyderabad for a brief schedule. The pending portions of Trivandrum schedule finished by the last week of October 2024 and comprised locations such as Kanakakkunnu Palace, The Leela Kovalam, Adimalathura Beach and CRPF training ground in Pallippuram. The penultimate schedules of filming took place at Kuttikkanam, Vandiperiyar during October last week and at United Arab Emirates during the beginning of November. The final schedules planned at Mumbai and Morocco are expected to be completed before mid of December 2024.




Music


The film's music is composed by Deepak Dev, who composed music for the prequel. In March 2023, Dev said that he had already started the music work for Empuraan.




Release


In November 2022, while the film was in pre-production, Prithviraj stated that they have not decided on a release date for the film. Beside its original release in Malayalam, the film would be released in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi languages. The film is also marketed with the short title L2E by the makers and is slated for theatrical release worldwide on 27 March 2025, coinciding the sixth year anniversary of Lucifer.




Future


As announced by the team, Lucifer is a trilogy, implying the existence of a third film as a continuation of the series. During a September 2019 event, Prithviraj mentioned that the third film will explore a much darker theme in the series.




References






External links


L2: Empuraan at IMDb

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• L2: Empuraan
• L2
• Prithviraj Sukumaran filmography
• Manju Warrier
• Saniya Iyappan
• Tovino Thomas
• Lucifer (2019 Indian film)
• Illuminati in popular culture
• Lyca Productions
• Sujith Vaassudev