The makers of L2: Empuraan, which is at the centre of a strident Hindutva hate campaign, have allegedly buckled under pressure and decided to modify 17 scenes and mute several “controversial” dialogues in the film.

However, neither actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran nor the other members of the team behind the blockbuster starring Mohanlal have confirmed that the Sangh Parivar outcry against the film’s alleged anti-Hindu and anti-BJP narrative forced the amendments.

Sources said the film’s three producers — Antony Perumbavoor, Gokulam Gopalan and A. Subaskaran — had sought the modifications. The changes will come into effect on Monday.

It has been learned that the scenes depicting the Gujarat riots and attacks against women will be dropped. The name of the antagonist Baba Bajrangi, whose character is believed to have been modelled on Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi and has drawn specific criticism, is also likely to be changed. Babu Bajrangi was the kingpin behind the Naroda Patiya massacre.

A Malayalam film industry source told The Telegraph that the changes were not “re-censoring” but mere “modifications”.

On Saturday, an article published in the Organiser, the RSS mouthpiece, said L2: Empuraan was not just another film but a medium of spreading an anti-Hindu and anti-BJP narrative that threatened to further divide “an already fractured” India.

The film delved into the “sensitive subject” of the post-Godhra riots in Gujarat with a “clear and alarming bias”, it alleged. It accused Mohanlal, considered close to the BJP and RSS, of cheating his fans and Prithviraj of taking an “anti-Hindu” stand.

The Malayalam film industry feels that more than the boycott calls sounded by the saffron ecosystem, it was the article in the Organiser that prompted the amendments in the movie.

C. Raghunath, a BJP national council leader from Kannur district in Kerala, demanded that the honorary rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Indian Territorial Army conferred on Mohanlal be taken back. He alleged that L2: Empuraan, which entered the ₹100-crore club on Saturday, was made to embarrass the BJP government at the Centre.

“I will approach the court to ensure that Mohanlal is stripped off his Lieutenant Colonel rank. I don’t think the film was made without the knowledge of Mohanlal. The government should probe whether there are foreign funds involved in the making of Empuraan. The censor board did not examine the content of the film seriously,” Raghunath said.

Sources said the censor board had trimmed two scenes that showed violence against women and had a reference to the National Flag.

Touted to be one of the costliest productions of Malayalam cinema, L2: Empuraan is a sequel to the 2019 hit Lucifer. It was released on Thursday.