Empuraan? After Prithviraj and Gopalan, Antony faces Central agency
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Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the controversies over the Malayalam movie “L2:Empuraan” and its apparent reference to the 2002 Godra train burning and the riots ensued, the Income Tax Department (IT) issued a notice to film producer Antony Perumbavoor after filmmaker-actor Prithviraj Sukumaran.
IT demanded clarifications on Perumpavoor’s financial transactions related to his films Lucifer and Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham. He was ordered to respond by the end of his month.
However, sources from the IT Department claimed that the notices are not related to the controversy linked to the film ‘Empuraan’, Mathrubhumi reported. The department claimed that the move was part of a broader investigation, which followed a series of raids across the film industry, which ran in 2022. According to the department’s claims, the notices are a continuation of the investigation, which mainly focuses on the overseas rights and remuneration paid to stars of the mentioned films.
Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) recovered Rs 1.5 crore from a co-producer of ‘Empuraan’ Gokulam Gopalan in a raid related to a case of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA)
The agency also claimed that Gokulam Gopalan’s company collected Rs 371.80 crore in cash and Rs 220.74 crore via cheque from NRIs.
In the case of Prithviraj, the IT department demanded his response by April 29.
Sources told Mathrubhumi that Prithviraj starred in three movies released in 2022, namely Gold, Jana Gana Mana and Kaduva, but did not receive payment as an actor but charged fees as a co-producer. Now, the IT department is checking the details of his acquisition of Rs 40 crore, which he earned as a producer in the three films.
“L2:Empuraan”, the sequel of the 2019 film “Lucifer”, had ruffled the RSS feathers, which in turn gave rise to a huge outrage from the right-wing Hindutva factions. The film opened with an apparent reference to the 2002 Godhra train burning incident and pogrom in Gujarat. The movie referenced a notorious figure, ‘Baba Bajrangi’, known from the Gujarat pogrom linked to the Naroda village, which opened a serious outburst from the Sangh Parivar, who bats for a mass murderer convict.
The RSS mouthpiece Organiser ran articles claiming that Prithviraj movies peddle anti-national ideas. The journal claimed that the tragic and complex chapter in India's history, the Gujarat riots, has been depicted in a distorted manner in the film. The article claims that "L2: Empuraan" has been made in a way that weakens the unity of the country and its democratic institutions.
Later, “voluntary” modifications were made to the film by the producers, and 24 cuts were made to it, removing 2 minutes and 8 seconds of running time.