The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday raided several properties of Empuraan producer Gokulam Gopalan in Chennai amid the ongoing controversy surrounding the Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran starrer. The film was slammed by RSS, BJP and other right-wing leaders over alleged references of Gujarat Riots.
According to a report in India Today, the ED raided the premises of Gokulam chit funds in Chennai, and the raids are a part of an investigation into a foreign exchange violation case. Officials of the ED searched the offices and other properties of Gokulam under provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).
For those unversed, Gokulam is the owner of Sree Gokulam Chits, which has multiple offices not just in Tamil Nadu, but also in Kerala, Telangana, Puducherry, Maharashtra, New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh Pondicherry and Haryana.
It is to be noted that the raids came amid the raging controversy surrounding Empuraan, which has been accused of showing the right wing in a negative light with certain scenes alluding to the 2002 Gujarat riots.
While the RSS and several BJP workers slammed the film and called for its boycott, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan advocated “freedom of expression”. He also attacked the BJP, RSS and others opposing the film, claiming that they were “unleashing communalism through widespread hate campaigns against the film, its actors and crew”.
Amid the controversy, Mohanlal, who plays the lead in the film, issued an unconditional apology and announced that the controversial scenes will be removed from the film. “As an artist, it is my duty to ensure that none of my films are hostile to any political movement, ideology or religious sect. Therefore, I and the Empuraan team are sincerely sorry for the distress caused to my loved ones, and with the realisation that the responsibility for it lies with all of us who worked on the film. We have decided together to remove such themes from the film,” he stated in a social media post.
Besides Mohanlal and Prithviraj Sukumaran, Empuraan also stars Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas and Indrajith Sukumaran in key roles. The film has been directed by Prithviraj himself.
