Malayalam actor Mohanlal expresses “sincere regret for mental distress caused to many I hold dear”. The apology comes because of the various social and political themes of his latest movie, Empuraan, which hit screens worldwide last Thursday. The movie has supposedly upset several Hindutva organisations and leaders, who accused it of disregarding Hindutva and trying to please “anti-national elements”, in reference to the 2002 Gujarat riots and other such events.
“…Empuraan, which is the second part of Lucifer, have pained a large number of people who love me. As an artiste, it is my responsibility to make sure that my film does not have any hostility towards any political movement, ideology or religious sect. Hence, I and the team of Empuraan sincerely regret the mental distress caused to those I hold dear, with the realisation that the responsibility for it lies with all of us who worked behind the Film. We have decided together to remove such themes from the film,” said the Malayalam actor in a Facebook post after the filmmakers decided to make a “voluntary modification” to the film.
Kerala CM Responds
The movie has also caused a political storm in the state of Kerala. Kerala chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, said that he has seen the movie and accused the Sang Parivar of threatening the filmmaker into making changes in the film. In a Facebook post, Kerala CM said, “It has come out that the filmmakers were forced to edit the film under pressure. This atmosphere of fear created by the Sangh Parivar is worrying. It is not salubrious for democracy that communalists can destroy a work of art and maliciously attack it. Artists on the ground have taken a stand against communalism and depicted its horror. In a democratic society, the freedom of expression of citizens must be protected.”
Extending support to the filmmaker, the Congress MLA and opposition leader V D Saatheesan said, “For the Sangh Parivar, freedom of expression means the freedom for works which have been created in their favour”
The incident drew public attention after Kunal Kara was asked to apologise for his Mumbai show mocking the current chief minister of Maharashtra.
