Facing political backlash and financial scrutiny, L2: Empuraan becomes the highest-grossing Malayalam film ever, raking in over ₹101 crore domestically and ₹260 crore worldwide.
April 9, 2025: Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s political action drama L2: Empuraan has stormed past the ₹100 crore mark in India, despite multiple controversies and financial probes.
On its 13th day in theatres, the film earned ₹1.25 crore, pushing its total domestic earnings to ₹101.15 crore. According to Sacnilk, the film has now grossed over ₹260 crore worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Malayalam film of all time.
While facing sharp criticism and even censorship over its portrayal of the Gujarat riots, the film’s box office performance has remained resilient. Most of its revenue has come from Kerala, where it has collected over ₹80 crore. “One of the elite few to cross 80 Cr+ in Kerala. History has a new chapter,” the producers shared in a celebratory post.
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Box Office Breakdown
- Week 1 Collection: ₹88.25 crore
- Weekend 2 Surge: ₹3.35 crore (Saturday), ₹3.85 crore (Sunday)
- Weekday Dip: ₹1.55 crore (Monday), ₹1.25 crore (Tuesday)
Occupancy remained moderate with 15.32% for Malayalam screenings and 12.15% for Tamil on Tuesday.
Cloud of Controversy
Despite its box office success, Empuraan has been entangled in several controversies. The makers were forced to make cuts after backlash over its depiction of the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Additionally, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids connected to financial irregularities allegedly tied to its producers.
- Antony Perumbavoor, under ED scrutiny, was served a notice regarding unaccounted earnings from past productions like Lucifer and Marakkar.
- Gokulam Gopalan, co-producer of Empuraan, was summoned by the ED after ₹1.5 crore in unaccounted cash was recovered from his premises.
These events followed a report alleging that one of the producers’ chit fund firms had received ₹372 crore from NRIs between 2002 and 2022, while only disbursing ₹7 crore—allegedly violating FEMA norms.
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Empuraan box office, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran, Malayalam cinema, L2 Empuraan collection, Antony Perumbavoor, Gokulam Gopalan, Kerala box office, Malayalam blockbuster, Empuraan controversy