L2: Empuraan director and actor Prithviraj Sukumaran's mother and actress Mallika Sukumaran has come forward to defend his son, who she claims has been made a scapegoat in the whole controversy related to the film which was met with fierce backlash from right-wing supporters for its references to the Gujarat riots in 2002 and depicting the two men who carried out the brutal massacre of Muslim men, women, and children rising to power.
On Sunday, Mallika posted a lengthy note on her Facebook handle wherein she expressed her disapproval of how Prithviraj and Mohanlal have been dragged through the mud by some supposedly agenda-driven groups. She slammed the attempts at propagating false information such as Prithviraj deceiving Mohanlal and the producers or Mohanlal being unaware of the film's content, adding that this view has not been endorsed by either Mohanlal or the producers.
"Mohanlal is like my younger brother. I have known Lal since childhood. Mohanlal has praised my son on many occasions. But it pains me to see some people trying to malign my son's name and making him a scapegoat. He has not cheated anyone, and will never do so,” she wrote, adding that everyone associated with the film, including Mohanlal and writer Murali Gopy, not only sat down together to discuss every scene but was also aware of the scenes being shot.
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"If some scenes needed tinkering, Murali Gopy was always willing to relent. So how can Prithviraj be blamed when everything got approved before the film came out?" she asked. “I want to clarify that Mohanlal and the producers were aware of every single scene in the film, and they would never say they weren't aware of it."
Mallika's statement follows an apology note by Mohanlal on Sunday afternoon in which he expressed regret over hurting the sentiments of some groups (evidently the Sangh Parivar) and confirmed that the entire team has decided to remove certain objectionable scenes.
