Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s Malayalam movie L2: Empuraan is facing a tough time at the box office. After doing well in the first few days, the movie saw a big drop in earnings on Day 6. On that day, the film collected only Rs 9 crore. This is more than a 50% fall compared to the earlier days. The movie’s total collection so far stands at around Rs 78 crore India nett.
The drop in collections happened after a major controversy. The film had to be changed before being re-released in theaters. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked the filmmakers to remove 24 scenes. These scenes were related to the Godhra riots and communal violence. In total, about 2 minutes and 8 seconds of footage was cut from the movie. After making the changes, the film got a fresh certificate and was shown again in theaters.
Unfortunately, the changes didn’t help much. The controversy had already affected the public’s mood, and many people decided not to watch the film. On top of that, the film is facing competition from Salman Khan’s Eid release Sikandar, which is also doing well in theaters.
On Day 5, L2: Empuraan had earned Rs 11.15 crore in total. This amount came from all its versions—Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada. The Malayalam version alone made Rs 10.4 crore, while the other languages earned less. Kannada brought in Rs 3 lakh, Telugu Rs 17 lakh, Tamil Rs 35 lakh, and Hindi Rs 20 lakh. However, there was already a drop of 18.32% on Day 5 compared to Day 4.
On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, the film recorded an occupancy rate of 49.41% in the Malayalam version. Occupancy means how many seats were filled in the cinema halls. In the other languages, the numbers were lower. Telugu had 11.52% occupancy, Tamil had 16.64%, and Hindi only had 8.47%. This shows that the movie was not received equally well in all regions.
The movie started strong. On Day 1, it earned Rs 21 crore, followed by Rs 11.5 crore on Day 2. Day 3 and Day 4 saw collections of Rs 13.35 crore and Rs 13.65 crore respectively. But then, due to the controversy, things started to go down. On Day 5 it dropped to Rs 8.59 crore, and on Day 6 it dropped even more to Rs 4.64 crore.
The film had high hopes before its release. It was expected to break records and do very well. However, because of the scenes linked to sensitive political and communal issues, the film faced backlash. The makers quickly removed the controversial parts, but the damage was already done.
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