India, March 29 -- Empuraan was the highly-anticipated sequel to Mohanlal's successful Lucifer, which released in 2019. Lucifer was Prithviraj Sukumaran's directorial debut, and he proved his mettle as a director. Now, six years later, does L2: Empuraan surpass its prequel Lucifer as a film? (Also read: Gujarat riot depiction in Mohanlal's L2 Empuraan 'exposes true agenda' of hate, says Cong; BJP distances itself from row)

Both films have nearly the same cast, except in L2, we see the introduction of Abhimanyu Singh as Baba Bajrangi, the main antagonist. Writer Murali Gopy uses the same political and crime nexus plot to carry L2's story forward, but one of the main drawbacks of the sequel is, in fact, its writing.

The plot meanders acro...