Empuraan Review : Does Mohanlal and Prithviraj save the day?

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00:00P.K.Ramdas has left a legacy in this war.

00:03This legacy is for this institution.

00:06I am the Emperor.

00:08Emperor!

00:13Emperor!

00:16Let this show be a blessing to Mishikai.

00:19Hi everyone, this is Manjusha Radhakrishnan.

00:21I am the Entertainment Editor.

00:23This morning at 4.30 am, I was not up for a school run,

00:27but to watch the first day first show of Mohanlal's L2 Empuran.

00:31It's a directorial by actor Prithviraj,

00:34who also plays a very important role in the sequel to Lucifer.

00:38It's out in the UAE cinemas now, it's an Eid release.

00:41Now here is what I really loved about the movie,

00:44when it comes to ambition and scale,

00:46this is one movie that you can watch.

00:48It will make the makers of Mission Impossible,

00:51perhaps even James Bond, sit up and take notice.

00:54Because we are on a globetrotting adventure.

00:57But when a movie opens with an adage which says,

01:00power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely,

01:04you know you are in for a very pretentious ride.

01:07It doesn't disappoint.

01:08I have to say, the first two hours of the movie were slightly painful,

01:12because you have seen this in Hollywood franchises.

01:15You don't need to go for a Malayalam film,

01:17to watch globetrotting, you know, stylish heroes conquer enemies.

01:23I thought the geopolitics of it all,

01:25and the time it took to set the scene up,

01:28it took way too long,

01:30and by the time, it was really exhausting to go around the world,

01:33and find out more about Stephen Nedumpally,

01:36which is the principal character, played by Mohanlal.

01:40All those who turned up at 4.30am in the morning,

01:43will vouch that they turned up to see Mohanlal turn up the swag in Mundu,

01:47a crisp white linen wrap around, yeah,

01:50and then deliver these punchy one-liners.

01:52What really disappointed me,

01:54is that it took a long time for Stephen Nedumpally,

01:57also known as Qureshi Abraham,

01:59the man behind the myth we are told,

02:02he is a saviour, but he's got a shady past,

02:05he's also a crime lord, a drug lord, etc.

02:08But we don't get much backstory into him,

02:11and it takes forever to set up the scene.

02:13Nearly one hour into the movie, and Mohanlal is still not there,

02:16which kind of is very disappointing and yawn-inducing,

02:19and at 4.30am, remember, I had to actually get toothpicks

02:22to keep my eyes open, it's a true story.

02:25But the second half is what really had my heart,

02:29there was Manju Warrier and Tovino Thomas,

02:32two brilliant actors, in fact they play siblings in this movie,

02:35there is Tovino Thomas, who is now the Chief Minister of Kerala,

02:39and he holds a very powerful position,

02:42he is in top form, the kind of command that he has over the role,

02:46he is truly commendable in his role,

02:49as this very rogue leader gone corrupt.

02:52His firing with his sister, played with quite authority by Manju Warrier,

02:56is brilliant to watch.

02:58In fact, I wish Empuran was more about the Empress, Manju Warrier,

03:02and her brother, rather than Mohanlal himself.

03:05It's not to throw a shade on the actor, he's got swagger,

03:08but by the time it comes around, you have already forgotten the plot.

03:12Another thing is, it's the second half of the movie that redeems this entire movie.

03:16You don't need to watch a Malayalam movie for stunts,

03:19for ambition, scale, etc.

03:21We are known for our realistic storytelling.

03:24And this is one of the movies that plays style over substance.

03:28I mean, there's of course Prithviraj,

03:30we get to see more of him, in Lucifer he had a very small role,

03:34but Prithviraj, who is the director of this movie,

03:37there's an origin story of him,

03:39and this movie takes up a long time establishing who he is.

03:43Why should we know this character, Masood?

03:46The problem is, it's not very riveting.

03:48The first few bits, where Hindi-speaking bits,

03:51make you believe that it's almost a deliberate attempt

03:54to appeal to the pan-India audiences.

03:56It feels very contrived.

03:58I wish they had just stuck to the brief of Mohanlal in Mundu saving the world.

04:04I wish there were more punchy one-liners.

04:06I've gone with 3 out of 5.

04:08Trust me, the 0.5 is given for the grand ambition and the scale

04:12and the globetrotting adventures that he took us on.

04:15But when it comes to emotional depth,

04:17when it comes to a great storyline,

04:19it leaves us disappointed.

04:20It's the second half that I liked.

04:22For my full review, you can always go to gulfnews.com

04:25or visit our website.

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