L2 Empuraan: Sudipto's sarcasm on 'Empuraan' makers apologizing, we went to the supreme court but did not apologize.
Sudipto Sen On L2 Empuraan: The controversy of 'L 2-Empuraan' sparked political debate, while Sudipto Sen's comment has taken this discussion to the national level and has again raised the question of filmmaking and freedom of expression.
The controversy has taken a new turn after the makers of the malayalam film 'L 2-Empuraan' apologized for some scenes of the film. Meanwhile, Sudipto Sen, director of the controversial film 'The kerala Story', has shared a social media post taking a dig at the makers of 'L 2-Empuraan'. Sudipto Sen reiterated his firm stance towards his film and said that he never apologized for 'The kerala Story' nor removed a single scene from the film because he believes that his film is based on truth.
'L2-Empuran' stars superstar mohanlal in the lead role and is directed by prithviraj Sukumaran. The film faced protests from right-wing groups due to its alleged portrayal of the 2002 gujarat riots. After the controversy escalated, the makers of the film apologized and decided to re-edit the film with 17 cuts on the instructions of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). mohanlal said in his facebook post, 'As an artist, I must ensure that my films do not spread hatred towards any political movement, ideology or community. We are deciding to remove the controversial parts respecting the sentiments of the audience.'
In response to this apology, Sudipto Sen wrote a long post citing the example of his film 'The kerala Story'. He said, 'We never apologized for 'The kerala Story'. We did not remove a single shot from the film, because we stood by every word and every scene.' Sudipto claimed that his film received an 'A' certification from the CBFC without any cuts and the Supreme Court too, despite over 20 petitions, did not order the removal of even a single scene from the film. He said the court only suggested a change in a disclaimer, which he accepted.
In his post, Sudipto also referred to questions raised on the number of 32,000 shown in 'The kerala Story'. This number is the claim in the film that 32,000 women from kerala were converted to islam and recruited into ISIS, which had caused a huge controversy. Sudipto said, "Watch our YouTube video for clarification on the number of 32,000. It is the result of 10 years of ground research." He also said that former kerala Chief minister and Communist leader V.S. Achuthanandan had said that kerala would become an Islamic state in the next 20 years and his film reiterates the same.
Both 'L2-Empuran' and 'The kerala Story' touch upon sensitive socio-political issues, but the makers' approach towards them was different. While the makers of 'L2-Empuran' bowed to the sentiments and pressure of the audience and apologized and accepted the cuts, Sudipto Sen denied any changes, calling his film a victory of truth. Sudipto also targeted the media and politicians in his post, advising them to give up vote-bank and appeasement politics.
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