L2 Empuraan box office collection day 6: Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran film holds steady amid political backlash, earns Rs...

The Mohanlal-starrer and Prithviraj Sukumaran-directed Malayalam movie L2: Empuraan or Empuraan - Lucifer 2 has set the box office on fire since its release on March 27. It is only the second Malayalam film to collect Rs 200 crore gross worldwide and will soon surpass the 2024 survival thriller Manjummel Boys to become the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever.

In its first five day of release, L2: Empuraan had earned Rs 70.15 crore net in India. On Tuesday, April 1, the political action thriller earned Rs 9 crore net in India, as per the early estimates from the entertainment tracking portal Sacnilk. The film is going steady at the box office despite the huge political backlash it has been receiving from the Hindutva organisations.

Empuraan had made subtle references to the 2002 Gujarat riots and how the central government uses National Investigation Agency (NIA) to silence its critics. However, after the massive outrage, the makers have voluntarily made 24 cuts, that include removing all such references, deleting the visuals of violence against women, and changing villain's name from Bajrangi to Baldev. The re-edited version of the film will most likely be screened in all the theatres from Wednesday, April 2.

The Prithviraj Sukumaran directorial has already broken more records at the box office within its first week itself by taking the biggest opening of Rs 67 crore in Malayalam cinema, becoming the fastest Malayalam film to earn Rs 100 crore worldwide in two days, and becoming the first Malayalam film to earn Rs 100 crore at the overseas box office.

Apart from Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran, L2: Empuraan features a solid ensemble cast comprising of Manju Warrier, Abhimanyu Singh, Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Andrea Tivadar, Jerome Flynn, Eriq Ebouaney, Sukant Goel, Nikhat Khan, Karthikeya Dev, Fazil, and Suraj Venjaramoodu among others.

Empuraan is the second installment in the planned Lucifer trilogy and is the sequel to the 2019 release Lucifer, which had earned Rs 125 crore gross worldwide six years ago. At the end of the sequel, the title of the third film in the franchise is revealed - L3: The Beginning, that will explore how Mohanlal's mysterious character of Stephen Nedumpally became Khureshi Ab'raam.