In what was going to be a cinematic milestone for Mollywood, Mohanlal’s ‘L2: Empuraan’ swept into cinemas with sky-high expectations fueled by a record-breaking pre-release business, record-breaking advance bookings, and unprecedented fan enthusiasm. The movie, described as Mollywood’s biggest-ever venture, took off with box office fireworks and emerged as the first Malayalam movie to hit the ₹250 crore mark worldwide. Yet, all its thunderous beginning and record-making successes abroad notwithstanding, ‘Empuraan’ ended its Indian box office run on a rather disappointing note.
The box office performance of the movie has been a hot topic throughout the industry — not only owing to its huge opening, but also because of the sharp decline that ensued in its career within the country. What was anticipated as a record-setting blockbuster in India turned out to be a tale of unrealized expectations and lost milestones.
A Meteoric Rise and Sudden Crash
Right from its first frame, Empuraan was seen as a pan-Indian spectacle. Prithviraj Sukumaran-directed and starring an oversized Mohanlal repeating his role as Stephen Nedumpally, the movie hinted at scale, style, and substance. It arrived with the ginormous burden of expectations as the sequel to the Lucifer blockbuster, and fans and trade circles expected it to break all past records.
And for a while, it did.
Empuraan opened to housefuls in Kerala and major hubs in the South. In the first three days, it had not only headed the weekend charts but had also raked in figures that surpassed earlier Mollywood records. Overseas, especially in the UAE, USA, and the UK, the film did exceptionally well, registering record-breaking figures for a Malayalam release. Industry analysts were quick to hail the movie as a industry success, and early indications pointed to the possibility that it would become the first ₹100 crore grosser in Kerala with high chances to breach the ₹150 crore mark in India.
However, within the second week, the box office story of the film took a dramatic downturn.
Word of Mouth Woes and Regional Struggles
The largest drawback for Empuraan was that which no movie can afford to lose — mixed word-of-mouth (WOM). Though the larger-than-life scale and production standards were appreciated, numerous audience members regarded the pacing as unbalanced, and the narrative less engaging than Lucifer. This attitude spread rapidly, particularly among family audiences and impartial viewers, leading to an extreme drop in footfalls throughout Kerala by the end of the first week.
By the second weekend, it was clear as daylight. The steep decline in collections ensured that Empuraan was out of the running to be Kerala’s highest-grossing movie, with its local gross standing around ₹85 crore. The much-desired ₹90 crore milestone for Mollywood’s highest-grosser remained unattainable.
In non-Malayalam areas, the picture was worse. In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh/Telangana, and Hindi-speaking territories, the film did not make any headway. Even after being dubbed in several languages and promoted aggressively as a pan-Indian release, Empuraan could not cut ice beyond the original Malayalam fan base. The opening day figures in these areas were minimal, and the next few days saw nothing happening, indicating a total washout outside Kerala.
Budget vs. Box Office: A Mixed Bag
On a commercial basis, Empuraan cannot be termed a flop — not on your life. With a worldwide gross of over ₹260 crore, the movie is a box office hit. The international collections alone have been staggering, and it is one of the very rare Indian South films that has found solid international ground without depending on a dubbed Hindi market.
Yet, with the enormous budget, large scale release, and hype generated by its predecessor, the Indian box office figures lie in what most would consider an “underwhelming” bracket. The movie didn’t set any new standards in any major market or region of India, and though it did open strongly, it was not able to sustain momentum long enough to leverage its initial success.
Additionally, market analysts note that the unprecedented foreign success couldn’t hide the deficiencies at home — particularly because Empuraan had been positioned as a pan-India franchise rather than a mere Mollywood follow-up.
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The Verdict: A Success, But Not a Phenomenon
Looking back, L2: Empuraan can be regarded as a film that succeeded internationally but fell short nationally. It has etched its position in the Malayalam cinema history book by crossing the ₹250 crore barrier — something that had seemed almost impossible before. However, as far as an Indian box office calculation goes, the film concludes its run on more questions than jubilation.
The divided reviews and the second-week drop as well as the failure to gain traction in regions have doused what would have been an all-time record-breaking experience. For the makers and Mohanlal, this is still a bitter triumph — a film that succeeded in being a success but not quite enough to see the dream it wished to fulfill through India.
With the curtain coming down on Empuraan’s theatrical outing in India, it acts as a reminder that even the largest projects with spectacular beginnings require consistent content and good word of mouth to sustain box office hegemony. The movie has undoubtedly set the trend for larger budgets and pan-Indian aspirations for Malayalam cinema, but also highlights the quintessential need for consistency in storytelling across regions.
What remains now is anticipation for L3, should it happen — and the hope that lessons from Empuraan’s journey help Mollywood’s filmmakers strike the perfect balance between vision and execution.
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