Actor on break, director in action

Prithviraj Sukumaran and Mohanlal

In the last 20 days, he has had two big releases, The Goat Life and Bade Miyan Chote Miyan. One would think that calls for a breather. Not if you are Prithviraj Sukumaran. After promoting the two films over the past few weeks, the actor flew back to Chennai to kick off the latest schedule of his next directorial venture, L2: Empuraan. The Mohanlal-led action thriller is the second instalment in the Lucifer franchise.

Lucifer (2019), which marked Sukumaran's directorial debut, had leading man Mohanlal play the dual roles of politician Stephen Nedumpally and international gangster Abraam Khureshi. With it becoming one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films, the stakes are naturally higher for the second part. Sukumaran kicked off the project in north India last October, and is now on his fourth schedule. "Lucifer revolved around drug trade, money laundering and the Illuminati, all set against the political backdrop of Kerala. Empuraan will go deeper into these themes, throwing light on Mohanlal's character's connection with the Illuminati. The fourth schedule began in Chennai from April 7 with Mohanlal and Prithviraj's actor-brother Indrajith. A set of small-town houses has been built, where the unit shot scenes depicting the central character's backstory. Over this three-week schedule, the director plans to can several action and emotional scenes, after which the unit will begin the next stint in Cochin in May," says a source.

While the actor-director had a cameo in Lucifer, his role will be fleshed out in the next instalment. The source reveals that Empuraan won't be a sequel in the true sense. "It won't pick up where Lucifer ended. Instead, Empuraan will focus on what happened before, how the primary characters crossed paths with one another and got to the point where the events of Lucifer happened. Additionally, it will show the protagonist's journey ahead, including how Prithviraj's mercenary character becomes significant in his life." Sukumaran is evidently mounting his third directorial venture on a big canvas. The action thriller will be not only shot across six countries, but also released as a multi-lingual in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.