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Prithviraj Sukumaran ensured that the L2: Empuraan budget was used for filming rather than paying. Neither he nor Mohanlal charged any fees. He also disclosed that Akshay Kumar worked for free on Selfie.
Prithviraj Sukumaran, an actor and director, has committed his all to his next film L2: Empuraan. At a time when actor pay accounts for a substantial amount of a film's budget, Prithviraj has assured that in Empuraan, every penny is spent on filmmaking rather than actor wages.
"It is not a Rs 100 crore film where Rs 80 crore was spent on remunerations and the film is made for Rs 20 crore. It is not that,” he told Pinkvilla. Prithviraj, who directed, performed in, and produced Empuraan, a sequel to his 2019 directorial debut Lucifer, revealed that he had a dream cast in mind for the film but didn't go all out to save money for shooting.
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"Reporter: ‘Why is Empuraan getting so much hype in Telugu?’ 🤨 👀
Lalettan & Prithviraj: Hold my filter coffee… ☕🔥
Mass reply incoming! 💥💯 " pic.twitter.com/wUgDCpJap0
“When we started out with the casting of Lucifer 2, I did have a wishlist. There were endless possibilities, and I had really big names in my head. In fact, I managed to reach out to most of those big actors from the US, UK, and China. To my shock, most of them were keen on the idea of collaborating with an Indian film and this particular project. After we mutually agreed, the agents stepped in and did their job. The agents want to get as much money for the talents as possible. But that doesn’t work for Malayalam cinema,” shared Prithviraj.
L2: Empuraan has Game of Thrones renown. Jerome Flynn, Eriq Ebouaney, and Andrea Tivadar play significant parts.
The actor-director argued that he just wanted to spend money on producing a fantastic picture. "Every little penny I have, I wanted to put into the making of Empuraan. Mohanlal hasn’t taken a single rupee for the film,” said Prithviraj.
Mohanlal, who was also there for the interview, interrupted to tell that Prithviraj did not charge a single rupee for the film. “Whatever money we spent will be seen on the screen,” said Mohanlal.
Prithviraj added, "It is not a Rs 100 crore film where Rs 80 crore was spent on remunerations. All of us—the technicians and actors—knew we were attempting something different, and we all pitched in. Even the foreign actors understood. People like Jerome and Andrea acted in Empuraan as a favour."
The actor, who earlier produced the 2023 Bollywood film Selfiee, also stated that Akshay Kumar did not demand him fees for the film.
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"He did not accept a single rupee for the picture. Akshay stated that he would accept money if the film generated money. Unfortunately, the film did not do well, and he did not accept any," Prithviraj explained.
L2: Empuraan opens in cinemas on March 27.
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