Months after Empuraan row, Prithviraj’s official team claims fresh hate campaign

Actor-filmmaker-producer Prithviraj Sukumaran’s official team, Prithviraj Official Network (POFFACTIO), issued a strong statement on Sunday criticising several major Malayalam television channels for publishing false claims about the upcoming Lucifer sequel.

“We express our disappointment in major channels for spreading false news claiming that Prithviraj Sukumaran made some statements about the L3 movie. These reports are entirely untrue,” POFFACTIO stated through its official social media handles.

The team traced the origin of the misinformation to “a fake profile ID as part of a hate campaign.”

POFFACTIO urged all media outlets to rely on credible sources. “Refer to the official interview videos from the Sarzameen promotions for accurate information,” it said.

They also appealed to television channels to “cross-check facts before reporting and to republish corrected news to clarify the truth to the public and Prithviraj’s well-wishers.”

Prithviraj had been promoting his Hindi film Sarzameen, during which he gave an interview touching upon the sequel to Lucifer. Following this, several Malayalam channels falsely reported that he had confirmed high-octane underwater action scenes in the third instalment. However, the actor made no such claim, and the statements were misattributed.

L2: Empuraan earlier courted political controversy

The new development comes months after L2: Empuraan, the second film in the trilogy by Prithviraj and Mohanlal, sparked political debate for its portrayal of right-wing politics and indirect references to the Gujarat riots.

The film's team later expressed regret and assured that the contentious portions would be removed. It was eventually released after making the necessary cuts as suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The controversy triggered a hate campaign against the filmmakers, including Mohanlal.