Producer Antony Perumbavoor rejects BJP leader, director Major Ravi’s claim that Mohanlal didn’t know Empuraan’s story; backs Prithviraj: ‘Our collective decision’

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Stating that the decision to edit out certain scenes was made collectively and not under any political pressure, Antony said, “The edits were not made out of fear. We are part of society, and we do not intend to create films that hurt anyone. That is not how we operate; neither Mohanlal sir, Prithviraj, nor I believe in doing that. If anyone was hurt by the film, it is our responsibility to correct it. In such situations, it is the duty of the actors, the director, and the producer to step up.”

Asserting that the decision to edit the film was a collective one, Antony clarified that only two minutes and a few seconds had been removed from the final version. “We did this on our own, not due to pressure from anyone. Even in the future, if a similar situation arises, we will handle it with the same mindset. This decision was not influenced by any political parties, and the edited version is likely to hit theatres today,” he confirmed.

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Dismissing claims that Mohanlal hadn’t watched the movie prior to its release, Antony said, “Mohanlal sir knew the story of this film, and so did I. I have no comments on the remarks made by others suggesting otherwise.” In his Facebook live, Ravi — known for directing Mohanlal-starrers such as Keerthi Chakra and Kurukshetra — had reportedly claimed, “Mohanlal never interferes with the script. He listens to the story once and does not ask for any corrections. I swear he hasn’t watched Empuraan yet, just like he hadn’t seen Keerthichakra before its release.” Although Antony didn’t explicitly state that Mohanlal had watched the movie beforehand, he dismissed Ravi’s words, which indirectly suggested that Mohanlal was unaware of the movie’s content.

“It was our collective decision (to proceed with the content in the script), not just Prithviraj’s. There’s no need to target him specifically. The decision was made as a group, with no influence from any one person,” he stated during a chat with Mathrubhumi News. Antony, however, declined to comment on why writer Murali Gopy refrained from sharing Mohanlal’s apology note on social media. Nevertheless, he affirmed that Murali was part of the group decision.

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Despite all the controversy, Empuraan continues its exceptional theatrical run and has already crossed the Rs 200 crore mark in worldwide gross. Dubbing it the biggest success of his 40-year career, producer and theater owner Liberty Basheer, who also serves as the president of the Kerala Film Exhibitors’ Federation, stated that the movie’s success is a strong response to critics of such films. “In my 40 years in the movie theatre business, this is the first time that all my seven theatres have witnessed houseful shows for five consecutive days since a movie’s release. The tickets and bookings for next week are also filling up. This is a first-time occurrence,” he noted on Facebook.