If cinema is to be taught as a medium for propaganda dissemination, then the latest Malayalam cinema venture, L2 Empuraan, would be a case study.

L2 Empuraan is a sequel to the 2019 Malayalam film Lucifer. Like the prequel, L2 traces the story of Khureshi Ab’raam aka Lucifer aka Stephen Nedumpally played by the protagonist Mohanlal. However, unlike the prequel, where the political turmoil of Kerala and the enigmatic character of Stephen were at the forefront, the sequel focuses more on the character of Ab’raam aka Lucifer and his global smuggling cartel. The cinema tries to balance the plot of Kerala politics and the global turmoil faced by Ab’raam’s cartel but does justice to neither. It is not only all over the place but does not care to answer about characters and their past.

Creators didn’t care to explain how an MLA could be the head of an international smuggling cartel. Similarly, there is no explanation for how a small boy affected by riots landed in a terrorist camp. It is agonising to try and figure out reasons when there are none. The film is difficult to watch due to unconnected plots, weak direction, poor screenplay, and forgettable background score. But, no matter how abysmal the movie has been, what is even more disturbing are the messages and narratives promoted in the cinema. For the sake of this article, I will dwell on only four major narratives among a plethora of disturbing narratives. These are the promotion of the Hindu hatred narrative of the pseudo-secular Left, hyphenating riots, Muslim victimhood and terrorism, maligning prestigious state institutes like NIA and an office like the Home Ministry, and promoting the alienation of Kerala through the Centre-state divide. Over and above these narratives, two themes around selective calls for freedom of expression and the political agenda of creators are also analysed.

First, the political and narrative landscape of Kerala is left infested, which goes all out to promote pseudo-secularism and Hindu hatred. Empuraan is a clear example of this. Empuraan has a subplot linked to the Gujarat riots of 2002, where the survivor of the riots, Zayed Mazood, played by Prithviraj Sukumaran, is seeking revenge from the perpetrator of the riot, Balraj aka Bajrangi, played by Abhimanyu Singh. Naming the main antagonist Bajrangi, which is the name of Lord Hanuman, shows a clear anti-Hindu mindset.

Furthermore, the film gives no impetus to the train burning of Godhra,........

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