Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumaran Didn't Charge Anything For L2 Empuraan: 'Whatever Money Spent Will Be Seen On Screen'
With L2: Empuraan gearing up for release, director-actor Prithviraj Sukumaran is leaving no stone unturned in promoting his ambitious project.
Actor and filmmaker Prithviraj Sukumaran is going all out to promote his highly ambitious directorial venture, 'L2: Empuraan'. The sequel to ‘Lucifer’ boasts an impressive ensemble, featuring Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Abhimanyu Singh, and Suraj Venjaramoodu.
Prithviraj on big ideas for Empuraan
In a conversation with Pinkvilla, Prithviraj shared insights into the film’s casting process, admitting that he had big plans from the outset. “When we started out with the casting of Empuraan, I did have a wishlist. There were endless possibilities, and I had really big names in my head. In fact, I managed to reach out to most of those actors from US, UK, China, etc.…,” he shared.
On bringing international actors
The film has also brought in well-known international actors, including ‘Game of Thrones’ star Jerome Flynn, Eriq Ebouaney, and Andrea Tivadar. While these actors were keen to be part of an Indian film, financial negotiations posed a challenge. “To my shock, most of them were keen on the idea of collaborating with an Indian film and Empuraan. After we mutually agreed, the agents stepped in. And they want to get as much money for the talents as possible. But that doesn’t work for Malayalam cinema,” Prithviraj explained.
Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran didn't charge anything
Instead of investing heavily in actor fees, Prithviraj ensured that the majority of the budget went into the film’s production. “Every little penny I have, I wanted to put it into the making of Empuraan,” he stated.
He then revealed that Mohanlal had chosen to forego his remuneration for the film, with Mohanlal himself adding that Prithviraj had done the same. “Whatever money we spent will be seen on the screen,” the veteran actor said.
Prithviraj clarified that the project wasn’t structured like a typical big-budget film, where most of the expenditure is allocated to star salaries. “Empuraan wasn’t a ‘Rs 100 crore film where Rs 80 crore was spent on remunerations,’” he pointed out. The entire team, from actors to technicians, understood the vision and contributed accordingly.
“People like Jerome, Andrea acted in Empuraan as a favour,” he said.
He also recalled how Akshay Kumar took a similar approach during the making of Selfiee. “He didn’t take a single rupee for the film. Akshay said that he’d take money if the film makes money. Unfortunately, the film didn’t do well, and he didn’t take any,” Prithviraj shared.
Set to hit cinemas on March 27, ‘L2: Empuraan’ will release in multiple languages, including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada.
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