Prithviraj Sukumaran meets Rajinikanth
Malayalam actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran on Monday met Tamil superstar Rajinikanth and showed him the trailer of his much-awaited directorial, L2: Empuraan, starring Malayalam superstar Mohanlal. L2: Empuraan, a sequel to 2019’s Lucifer, is set to release in theatres on March 27.
Prithviraj took to his official X handle to share a picture with Rajinikanth. He revealed that the superstar expressed his feedback, something “he would forever cherish.”
Earlier, at the teaser launch of L2: Empuraan, Prithviraj had said that he came close to directing Rajinikanth in a movie, but he couldn’t get the script ready well in time. Prithviraj said A Subaskaran of Lyca Productions, who is bankrolling L2: Empuraan, once approached him for a project starring Rajinikanth under his banner.
“The opportunity was so good for a new director like me, and I tried my best to see if I could come up with something. Subaskaran sir wanted the project to happen within a particular timeline. Since I’m a part-time director, I couldn’t come up with a subject for the producer. So, that didn’t happen,” he said.
While the film with Lyca Productions and Rajinikanth didn’t materialise, it led to the beginning of a friendship between the actor and Subaskaran, he added. “I hope (it) will happen someday. It is such an ambitious film. I had read the entire script and I loved what the film was on paper. I immediately said yes to it,” said Prithviraj.
The actor-director said Subaskaran was curious about his next directorial venture, only to come on board as a producer for L2: Empuraan. “In the meanwhile, Subaskaran sir asked me, ‘You can’t direct a film for us with Rajini?’ I said, ‘Unfortunately I’m not able to (crack the idea)’. He asked me what I was doing next, and I told him, ‘I’m doing a sequel to Lucifer, and it’s a big dream that I’ve been harbouring ever since the release of Lucifer,” he said.
“I gave him a rough outline of what the film is about. Subaskaran sir asked me, ‘How can I be part of this dream of yours?’ I wasn’t expecting this. I’m thankful to him,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Galatta Plus, Prithviraj revealed he has a story he thought would fit Rajinikanth. He said this when asked if, say, a script he wrote for a superstar like Mohanlal would be easily transmittable to another superstar like Rajinilkanth
“I’ve never made a script to an actor. Lucifer wasn’t written for Mohanlal. Murali Gopy had thought of the idea much before Tiyaan. So it wasn’t my ideation or my design of a Mohanlal film,” said Prithviraj, adding how his second directorial starring Mohanlal, Bro Daddy, too came about organically and wasn’t tailored for the superstar. “Having said that, I do have an idea in mind that would be great to do with Rajini sir. It’s an idea I initially wanted to pitch in Hindi,” he added.
Empuraan has been in the making sinceOctober last year.
The film’s teaser, released on Jan. 27, begins in a ghost town in Northern Iraq called Qarqosh. We hear Sachin Khedekar’s PK Ramdas telling Manju Warrier’s Priyadarshini, “If ever there comes a day, when you feel everything around you is falling apart, and if I am not alive then, there will be only one person you can turn to for help: Stephen.”
Stephen Nedumpally, as we knew from the climax of Lucifer, is bigger than what we believed him to be; he’s the head of the most powerful mercenary group in all of Asia.
Written by Murali Gopy, the film also features Prithviraj as Zayed Masood, who is said to be the ‘Emperor’s General.’ Indrajith Sukumaran, Tovino Thomas, Abhimanyu Singh, Arjun Das, Fazil, and Shine Tom Chacko are also part of the cast. Interestingly, Game of Thrones actor Jerome Flynn is also part of the cast.
Cinematographer Sujith Vaassudev and composer Deepak Dev are also returning for the sequel. Akhilesh Mohan serves as the editor. The film is jointly produced by Aashirvad Cinemas and Lyca Productions.