Mohanlal-starrer L2: Empuraan gets 24 ‘voluntary cuts’ totalling 2.08 minutes after right-wing backlash

Mohanlal-starrer 'L2: Empuraan' faces backlash, makes 24 cuts, including renaming characters and altering controversial scenes.

The makers of Mohanlal-starrer L2: Empuraan have made 24 “voluntary cuts” to the film, totalling 2.08 minutes, following sustained right-wing backlash after its release last Thursday (March 27, 2025). The re-edited version of the film, certified by the regional officer of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), is likely to appear in most theatres in India only by Wednesday (April 2, 2025).

As per the re-censor certificate, one of the major changes is in the name of the character Balraj, alias Baba Bajrangi, the antagonist who leads a mob, which appears to be a reference to Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi who was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the Naroda Patiya massacre as part of the Gujarat pogrom of 2002. The character has been renamed Baldev in the re-edited version. The display card mentioning the period of events as ‘India 2002’ has been changed to ‘a few years ago’.

The visuals of vehicles passing in front of a religious structure, violence against women and visuals of dead bodies during the riot scenes in the film have also been removed. A conversation between a young Zayed Masood (played by the director of the film Prithviraj Sukumaran) and his father Masood during the riots has been removed. References to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is shown as being used by the ruling party against political opponents, also got the scissors. Audio mute has also been employed to cut out any mention of NIA.

The cuts have also affected the ‘Special Thanks’ during the film credits, with the names of actor and Union Minister of State for Petroleum Suresh Gopi and IRS officer Jyothis Mohan getting removed.

It is learnt that the uncut version will continue to be screened outside the country, but the OTT release might be after incorporating the cuts.

The reports of the re-editing of the film have led to huge demands for tickets, with the film running mostly sold-out shows across Kerala since its release on Thursday.

Even as the right-wing backlash continued, some leaders of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Congress party have extended solidarity to the makers of the film and watched the uncut version in cinemas.