‘Empuraan’ leaked online hours after release; Kerala police launch probe

Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran’s highly anticipated film ‘L2: Empuraan’ has fallen victim to piracy, as a low-quality version of the film was leaked online just hours after its theatrical release. The pirated copy began circulating on notorious websites and Telegram groups, prompting immediate action from the film’s team.

Complaint filed.
According to Manorama News, the makers of L2: Empuraan have officially filed a complaint regarding the leak. In response, the cyber wing of the Kerala police has launched an investigation to identify the source of the pirated video and take measures to block the websites hosting illegal copies of the film.
Will it affect box office performance?

Piracy remains a significant challenge for the film industry, and ‘L2: Empuraan’ is the latest high-profile victim. Despite this setback, the film continues to dominate the box office. According to early estimates from Sacnilk, L2: Empuraan collected Rs 19.45 crore from its Malayalam version alone. The Telugu version brought in ₹1.2 crore, while the Tamil and Hindi versions earned Rs 80 lakh and ₹50 lakh, respectively. The Kannada version contributed Rs 5 lakh.
The film’s stronghold in Kerala is evident, with key cities like Kochi recording an impressive 97.5% occupancy and Trivandrum following closely at 84.75%. Industry insiders believe that the leak is unlikely to impact the film’s box office performance significantly, given the immense anticipation and positive word-of-mouth surrounding the movie.
ETimes review
Want to watch the film? Well, here’s our review: The first half goes with the textbook 'thrill every few minutes' formula. After a brief geopolitical voiceover—about an Afro-China God Axis vs. an Indo-Arab Lucifer nexus—and an action sequence in Iran, the story moves to the 2002 riots in west India. It tells the backstory of a young Zayed Masood (Prithviraj), the shadowy figure accompanying Stephen Nedumpally aka Khureshi Ab’raam in the first film, Lucifer. It’s a villain origin story—or in this case, an anti-hero origin story—with Zayed's parents and family facing the brunt of the riots in communal clashes under a new, rising political order under a leader named Bajrangi