Why Prithviraj’s Female Characters In Empuraan Fall Short?

For years, the narrative around women in mainstream films has often been one-dimensional, with many films focusing more on male characters while relegating women to supporting roles.

This trend is prevalent even in highly anticipated action-drama films like Lucifer and its sequel Empuraan, both directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran.

While these films have received worldwide praise for their storytelling, action sequences, and larger-than-life performances, they also raise an important question about the role of women in the stories they tell.

Looking closely at Lucifer and Empuraan, it’s evident that while these films feature actors like Manju Warrier, Saniya Iyappan, and Nyla Usha, their roles seem relegated to mere plot devices, their characters often overshadowed by the central narrative focused on Mohanlal’s character, Stephen Nedumpally, and the political drama surrounding him.

In Lucifer, the first installment of this ambitious trilogy, the female characters had limited screen time and even more limited depth.

Manju Warrier’s portrayal of Priyadarshini Ramdas is one example. Initially introduced as a woman with a deep hatred for Stephen Nedumpally (Mohanlal), she is a character who is dealing with significant personal turmoil.

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She is married to Bobby (Vivek Oberoi), a man who abuses her child. The turning point for Priyadarshini comes when she realises the extent of her husband’s cruelty. Seeking refuge in Stephen, she ultimately sides with him, leaving behind her previous alliances for her survival and to protect her child.

However, despite these emotional shifts, Priyadarshini’s screen time in Lucifer is minimal—less than 20 minutes in a film that spans over two and a half hours.

Why is such a character given so little room to flesh out her character, especially when her role in the plot is crucial to Stephen’s journey? Instead of delving deep into the nuances of her character, she is placed as a mere support to the male-driven narrative.

Similarly, Saniya Iyappan’s character, who appears in a couple of sequences, also doesn’t get the chance to evolve or impact the story. Women in Lucifer, whether it’s the characters portrayed by Nyla Usha, are mere fragments of the larger story, popping in and out of scenes with no lasting impact or arc to speak of.

Fast forward to Empuraan, the sequel to Lucifer, and the portrayal of women remains strikingly similar. Despite the immense anticipation surrounding the film, it appears that Prithviraj Sukumaran, like many of his contemporaries in Malayalam cinema, continues to place women in secondary roles.

Priyadarshini Ramdas, given an influential role in the entire storyline, now facing the legacy of her father’s political struggles, finds herself once again overshadowed by the larger-than-life presence of Mohanlal’s Stephen. While her character is supposedly fighting against illegal practices in politics to protect her family’s legacy, her role, much like in Lucifer, is underwhelming and feels like a shadow of the central narrative.

In Empuraan, Priyadarshini’s character occupies roughly 10% of the screen time, with her storyline often feeling disconnected from the overall narrative arc, and others like Nikhat Khan Hegde, Nyla Usha, Andrea Tivadar and others are just below 5%.

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Even though she is supposed to be a major player, her role is essentially sidelined, and the emotional depth one might expect from a character in her position is barely explored.

When analysing a movie with a large ensemble cast of around 25 actors, it’s not uncommon to see only two or three female characters standing out, while the majority of prominent roles are occupied by men.

This disparity raises an important question: why is it that even in films with a major number of characters, women are often suppressed to smaller, less impactful roles?

The trend of sidelining female characters in favor of their male counterparts is deeply ingrained in the way stories are structured, particularly in commercial cinema.

Other female characters in Empuraan—Andrea Tivadar, Saniya Iyappan, and Nyla Usha—similarly do not contribute much to the progression of the plot.

Their characters remain peripheral, existing primarily to serve the male protagonist’s journey which is always a persistent issue in cinema, where women are often included in films not for their intrinsic value as characters, but because of a perceived obligation to include female presence, irrespective of whether it serves the story.

Why do Malayalam filmmakers, especially those as influential as Prithviraj, continue to give female characters such limited space in their narratives?

The inclusion of women in films should not be a mere checkbox exercise. It should go beyond tokenism and reflect the realities and complexities of female experiences.

In Lucifer and Empuraan, the female characters are not designed to exist as fully realised individuals with their arcs and stories; instead, they are positioned as mere accessories to the male-driven plots.

Since these women may have the potential to offer something deeper, be it political agency, emotional conflict, or personal growth, the storytelling in both films limits their development.