‘Empuraan’: More than a film -A Political Reality Check (2025)

March 27th was one of the most anticipated days for movie buffs in Kerala, as it marked the release of Empuraan across India—the second part of Lucifer, which was released in 2019 and became a commercial hit. The immense hype generated by the makers in the weeks leading up to the release, combined with the high expectations set by the first part, was a key factor in the movie being pre-booked even before its release, resulting in full-house screenings everywhere. This is an experimental attempt to dissect the movie with the real-life political scenario of the state of Kerala and India.

Why do I think this movie needs to be considered as an eye-opener or a warning sign to the Keralites? Considering the politics, and with the recent Lok Sabha elections in 2024 where BJP acquired one seat in the parliament out of 20, this movie is giving us a warning of what could happen if we are going to brush this off with the thought that it has penetrated only one constituency.

Fiction vs Reality: Unmasking the Movie’s Political Parallels

The movie starts with the depiction of the Gujarat riots in 2002. This should be one of the first commercial movies in the South Indian industry to project the incidents of what happened then. The first visual starts with the killing of a man, Irfan, in the movie, and the set is very relatable to the real-life incident of the attack that happened in the Gulbarg Society massacre, which targeted Ehsaan Jafri, a member of parliament and a Congress party member. The movie showcases the rape of a pregnant lady, where her other family members are murdered and slaughtered heinously and burned under the leadership of Baba Bajrangi of the Bajrangi party in the movie.

Meanwhile in the real-life Bajrang Dal leader, Babubai Patel, known as Babu Bajrangi, is known to many and is shown in the movie as Baba Bajrangi of Akhanda Shakthi Morcha (ASM) which is a Hindu right party, in reference to the riot. Few years back, in one of the hidden video clips of Babu Bajrangi, taken by Tehelka magazine, we see how he himself says that he and his men killed 91 Muslim men and women at Naroda Patiya at Naroda, Ahmedabad. He further says that they raped a pregnant woman, slit open her womb, and threw her and the foetus into a fire. The same is depicted in the movie as well but with a different yet similar name.

Although the movie states that this is just a fictional work, people who are aware of the incidents that happened in India, both nationally and locally, will get the idea that this relates to the Naroda Patiya incident. It is no irony that the villain in the movie is named Baba Bajrangi instead of Babu Bajrangi. When movies like The Kerala Story came out and put forth a right-wing narrative of what’s happening in Kerala, this visual, which is screened in the first 15 minutes of the movie, is a slap in the face of the right wing. And yes, the political storm it has created, was visible in social media and the public sphere since the release, with calls to boycott the movie. Followers of the Hindu right are disappointed saying how they didn’t expect an actor like Mohanlal to do this.

Why do I think this movie is an eye-opener? One of the dialogues in the film states that we keep saying what we could have and should have done, but it ends with the silence we have maintained on several issues. This serves as a warning throughout the movie: if we continue this silence, when the reaction finally comes, it will be too late for us to respond. As Martin Niemöller said:

“First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.”

It is extremely important to respond to the intrusion of the right wing into our regional politics, which the movie is indirectly highlighting. If we don’t, this could happen to God’s own country as well. The film serves as an eye-opener, where one of the protagonists says that before we lose everything in our land, we, as citizens, need to break our silence and act to save our country before it’s completely saffronised.

Meanwhile, this movie is not only an eye-opener for the people but also for Congress party workers, who are depicted as IUC in the film. The movie continuously reminds the audience and the Congress party of the importance of acknowledging the struggles of the freedom fighters, who sacrificed their lives to create this country, rather than focusing solely on leadership based on bloodline heirs. The film also emphasizes that leadership should not be determined by bloodline but by a leader’s commitment to the people and the nation. It is time to move away from such ideas. This indirectly suggests that one of the reasons Congress has been losing the confidence of the people, especially in the last 15-20 years, is its focus on bloodline leadership.

On the other hand, this is not just a slap to Congress but also to the Left. In the movie, Jathin, the CM of the state played by Tovino, asks the ASM leader to ensure that all the cases filed by central agencies are closed as part of the deal he has signed with them regarding the building of check dams. And the new party he has founded IUC (PKR) forms an alliance with ASM. This can be closely related to the rumours surrounding Pinarayi Vijayan, the current CM of Kerala. There have been rumours about the deferment of the Lavalin case proceedings in the Supreme Court; it is alleged that the Left has colluded with the ruling regime to wash off the cases charged against the leaders as part of several political deals.

The formation of new party by an alliance with the ASM by the CM Jathin in the movie can also be paralleled with the incident involving Anil Antony, A.K. Antony’s son, who was the Defence Minister and Chief Minister of Kerala. Here Anil did not form a new party but he was all over the news last year for joining the BJP after quitting the Congress party. In the movie, Jathin is the son of an ex-CM. Although, in real life, Anil Antony has been active in the Congress party, taking roles in AICC, one can interpret this in light of real-life incidents in Kerala’s politics as well as within the Congress.

The Communist Party, both in the previous term and the present, has been accused several times of moving away from the communist principles the party espouses. The Communist Party is supposed to stand with the people, but there have been many allegations against it for not supporting indigenous people, the marginalized, and workers, even though its original communist principles state otherwise.

The movie also highlights why capitalists like Adani and other private companies have recently shown interest in investing in a state like Kerala, which is smaller in proportion. This interest arises from the potential resources Kerala offers, such as its 600 km coastline, international airports, and more. The movie mentions these details as well. In reality, over the last nine years, we’ve seen how capitalists like Adani have taken over several sectors in Kerala, such as the Trivandrum International Airport and the Vizhinjam port project. This indirectly points to how a communist state is supporting or favouring capitalism, allowing such capitalists to establish a base in Kerala, which could later have repercussions, as seen in other states.

Likewise, in the movie, we see how Jathin and his sister Priyadarshini, played by Manju Warrier, have a disagreement regarding Jathin’s politics, while she carries forward her father’s political legacy by adhering to his ideals. If we reflect on this deeply, it is very much relatable to the real-life incident involving another Chief Minister of Kerala from the Congress Party, K. Karunakaran. Both his children, K. Muraleedharan and Padmaja Venugopal, are active in politics. In real life, we have seen Padmaja change her political allegiance and join the BJP in 2024, leaving Congress, while K. Muraleedharan continues his father’s legacy by staying true to Congress ideals.

The disagreement between the siblings regarding their political stances is quite public, and this is also portrayed in the movie with respect to Jathin and Priyadarshini. The brilliance of the scriptwriter lies in reversing the gender roles: instead of Priyadarshini’s character moving to the right, it is Jathin who moves right, while she remains committed to her father’s ideals in politics. The character of Priyadarshini was also associated with Priyanka Gandhi in the first part, Lucifer, and this is where the ingenuity of the scriptwriter shines. As viewers, we can correlate all these situations and characters in the movie to real-life political events and people, albeit with reversed genders, reversed parties, or even the merging of two characters from national and state politics.

One can also relate the movie to the character played by Suraj Venjaramood, who represents ASM in Kerala. The body language, speaking style, and the situations in which this role is portrayed are similar to K. Surendran, the former President of the BJP in Kerala. There is a scene in which this character asks a coworker, “Anna, enu vilichitu, aksharam maari pokumo dae,” which literally means, “After calling me brother, will you interchange the letters?” Here, the character is asking if he will stab him in the back by switching to another party. This can be related to the recent incident in November 2024, when Sandeep Warrier, a former BJP spokesperson in Kerala, switched his party allegiance to Congress

There was a narrative propagated on one of the popular shows called The Ranveer Show, hosted by Ranveer Allahbadia, who was caught up in recent controversies over a joke. In one of the episodes, historian Balakrishna, who is the chief editor of a right-wing website, claimed that in a remote village in Malappuram district, non-Muslims are discouraged from entering and only Islamic law is followed. This sparked a huge discussion among the North Indian audience because Malappuram has a significant Muslim population. Although it was a baseless claim, many people in the right-wing continue to believe it.

The Kerala Story, a movie released in 2023, claims to be drawn from real-life incidents and has been used for Islamophobic propaganda by the right. Empuran can also be seen as a response to that political narrative, although it is not referenced directly. In this movie, Baba Bajrangi, who is portrayed as the villain, asks Zayed Masood, played by Prithviraj, if he is a ‘Malabari’, reflecting the narrative promoted in North India against Muslims in Kerala, to which Zayed responds that he is a ‘Hindustani.’

The movie also highlights the ruling regime’s tactic of using the NIA or ED against opposition leaders, accusing them of non-bailable offenses and arresting them whenever they feel threatened. This has happened with many leaders, social activists, actors, and anyone in the public sphere recently questioning the ruling party. And of course, it would be no surprise if the filmmakers of this movie face scrutiny from central agencies for making direct references to the Gujarat riots. Additionally, it highlights how these departments are increasingly being staffed by individuals loyal to the ruling party.

Why do I think this movie needs to be considered an eye-opener or a warning to Keralites?

Although this movie has its own problems, which I won’t go into deeply, one could consider it a wake-up call for Keralites. It is important to recognize how the movie’s screenplay has woven real-life incidents into a compelling collage of contemporary politics. Movies like this are essential as a response to films like The Kerala Story, which were widely discussed in the public sphere and even promoted by the Prime Minister during the election campaign. Thus, this movie, coming from the South, upholds the secular ethos of the state.

Here, art speaks to the public and to the leaders of both Congress and the Left in Kerala, urging them to wake up and take action rather than remaining silent, pondering what could and should have been done. The same applies to the people as well. Rather than simply looking at bloodline as a qualification for leadership, it is important for a political party to focus on the ideals the leader upholds. The movie ends with the message that public life can be affected by such leaders: “Oru jana nayakan karanam thakarnnu pokkunathu, oruopaadu perude Sathyam aanu.” This means that when a leader goes astray, it decimates the aspirations of many. The film criticizes the undue preference given to political heirs to run a party solely due to their heirship. The film calls on the secular forces in the state to save God’s Own Country from the communal forces. Ultimately, Empuraan serves as a powerful reminder for Keralites to reassess their political choices before God’s Own Country loses its inclusive and secular identity irreversibly.

Shruthy Harilal is a research scholar at IIIT Delhi, specializing in caste, gender, rituals, and the intersection of gender and movies. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology, with a focus on the Theyyam ritual of North Kerala.