'Sorry For Distress': Mohanlal Announces Gujarat Riot Themes Will Be Removed From Empuraan Amid Controversy

Malayalam superstar Mohanlal tendered an apology on social media on Sunday following the major controversy surrounding his latest release, L2: Empuraan. Certain scenes from the film, referring to the 2002 Gujarat Riots, caused a massive uproar online and the RSS, along with several BJP party workers, slammed the film.

Amidst the controversy, Mohanlal, on Sunday, took to his Facebook to apologise to the people for any "distress". "I know that some of the political and social themes that have been introduced in the making of the film 'Empuraan', the second part of the 'Lucifer' franchise, have caused great distress to many of my loved ones," his statement read.

He further wrote, "As an artist, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films are hostile to any political movement, ideology or religious sect. Therefore, I and the Empuraan team are sincerely sorry for the distress caused to my loved ones, and with the realisation that the responsibility for it lies with all of us who worked on the film. We have decided together to remove such themes from the film."

"I have lived my film career as one of you for the last four decades. Your love and trust are my only strength. I believe that there is no Mohanlal who is greater than that... With love, Mohanlal," he concluded.

Mohanlal's statement comes after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan attended a special screening of Empuraan in Thiruvananthapuram and stated that every citizen's "freedom of expression must be protected".

"I saw the film at a time when the Sangh Parivar is unleashing communalism through widespread hate campaigns against the film, its actors and crew. The fact that the film references one of the most brutal genocides the country has ever seen has angered the Sangh Parivar, its planners. Not only the followers , but even leaders of the BJP and RSS are raising public threats," he wrote, after watching the film.

"This atmosphere of fear created by the Sangh Parivar is worrying. It is not a good thing for democracy for communalists to destroy a work of art and viciously attack artists just because it has taken a stand against communalism and depicted its horror. In a democratic society, the freedom of expression of a citizen must be protected," he added.

Besides Mohanlal, Empuraan also stars Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas and Indrajith Sukumaran in key roles. The film has been directed by Prithviraj himself.