'L2: Empuraan' row: Not 17, Mohanlal-starrer makes 24 'voluntary cuts' after right-wing fury

Thiruvananthapuram: From changing the name of a controversial character to removal of thanks card to Union Minister and actor Suresh Gopi, the much-hyped Mohanlal starrer L2: Empuraan is set to hit the screen with 24 'voluntary cuts'.

Amidst strong campaign by BJP- Sangh Parivar activists against the film, the film's producer Antony Perumbavoor told reporters on Tuesday that the cuts were made without any sorts of pressure from any side.

The re-edited version of the film is expected to be released in theatres anytime as the re-censor certificate has also been issued.

The key changes in the film include the renaming of the antagonist character Balraj alias 'Baba Bajrangi' to 'Baldev' owing to criticisms over its similarity with Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi. Some scenes of violence against women and scenes involving worship places were among those removed and various dialogues, including reference to NIA, were muted. Reference to the year 2002 has been changed to 'a few years ago'.

A 'thanks card' attributed to actor-turned politician and Union minister Suresh Gopi, the lone and maiden BJP MP from Kerala, has also been taken off considering his request. Thanks attributed to an IRS officer has also been removed.

Visuals with a total duration of 2 minutes and 8 seconds have been deleted from the film that was released on March 27. There has been a huge rush over the last couple of days to view the pre-voluntary cut version of the film that crossed a box-office collection of Rs 200 crore by Monday.

Meanwhile, the film producer Antony Perumbavoor said that all decisions pertaining to the film were collective and there was no reason for attacking actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran.

"Mohanlal was also very well aware of the film's story. The cuts were made voluntarily as the crew did not want to hurt any sections of the society. There was no political or other external pressures," he said.

Antony dismissed the comments of A K Raveendran alias Major Ravi, a former army officer and a BJP leader, that Mohanlal was unaware of the film's story. He also maintained that film writer Murali Gopy's silence on the matter does not mean that he was not part of the decision to go for 'voluntary cuts'.