Shots linking storyline to Godhra riots in 'L2: Empuraan' to go after cuts

Thiruvananthapuram: The Mohanlal-starrer ‘L2: Empuraan’ will hit the screens with 'voluntary modifications' suggested by its makers by Wednesday, deleting many scenes which directly link the storyline to the Godhra riots.

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has endorsed the screening of the movie with the modifications and the filmmakers are in the final stages of the editing and mastering works, after which it will be uploaded to theatres, sources said.

The regional office of the CBFC here, after a special meeting on Sunday, endorsed the cuts proposed by the producers and issued a fresh certificate.

As per the new CBFC certificate, there are cuts or changes in 24 scenes which have direct links with the communal riots. Visuals with a total duration of 2 minutes and 8 seconds have been deleted from the original movie.

The card mentioning the period as ‘2002-India’ has been replaced with ‘A few years ago’ in the new version.

Four scenes showing violence against women during the riots have been deleted. The name of the villain character of the movie, who is shown as fomenting communal violence, has been changed from ‘Bajrangi’ to Baldev, which has to be re-dubbed in several scenes.

Besides this, the ‘thanks card’ at the beginning of the movie attributed to Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi has been removed.

The new version also will not have scenes showing vehicles moving in front of religious structures at four places and several visuals and dialogues of short duration by the villain character in the film.

The scene showing the car with the name board of ‘NIA’ has been removed and an audio with the mention of the agency muted.

The producers approached the CBFC for 'voluntary modification' after being swarmed by protests and negative opinions from Sangh Parivar leaders and its cyber handles.

The RSS mouthpiece, ‘Organiser,’ had strongly criticised the movie, saying the film is trying to push an age-old anti-Hindu agenda with an alarming bias.

"Rather than focusing on the true historical events, the film uses the backdrop of the 2002 post-Godhra riots to push a divisive, anti-Hindu narrative that poses a serious threat to communal harmony," it had said.

While the ruling CPI(M) leaders in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition Leader in the state Assembly V D Satheesan stood behind the movie, some BJP leaders issued open statements against its director Prithviraj and actor Mohanlal.

Mohanlal later issued a note on Facebook expressing regret and announcing the decision of the film’s makers to modify the scenes that wounded the sentiments of a few people.

Under the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Cinematograph (certification) Rules, 2024, filmmakers can voluntarily modify a film after certification, with the CBFC endorsing these changes under Rule 33 of the Cinematograph (certification) Rules, 1983, censor board sources said.

Amid the raging controversy over its content, ‘L2: Empuraan’ is running to packed houses in all the theaters where it was released on March 27.