Actor-director Prithviraj Sukumaran is in Mumbai on Thursday, promoting his upcoming Malayalam film, L2 Empuraan, with Mohanlal in the lead role. Also starring in the film is Aamir Khan’s sister, Nikhat Khan Hegde, who plays Subhadra Ben in the film. Talking about her casting, Prithviraj revealed to the press that he cast her before knowing she was Aamir’s sister. (Also Read: L2 Empuraan trailer: Mohanlal returns to save ‘God’s own country’; Rajinikanth, SS Rajamouli, Ram Gopal Varma all praise)
Prithviraj Sukumaran on casting Nikhat Khan Hegde
Prithviraj told the press he was so impressed with Nikhat’s casting tape that he wanted her to play Subhadra. It’s only later that his casting agent tells him she’s Aamir’s sister. He said, “I said I like her when I saw her audition. I said I want her. My casting director said, oh yeah she’s wonderful. By the way she’s also Aamir sir’s sister. I said, really? So then I called Aamir sir. I want to tell you, he just messaged me asking me, is my sister good in the film? So I said, sir, she’s a lot better than good.”
The actor-director also spoke about how he hopes the sequel to his hit 2019 film Lucifer will make a mark across the country as the film will also be released on March 27 in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Hindi. “We dream very big, us down south. And this time I think we’ve managed to follow it up with some seriously good work. Let’s see. I am nowhere near the most finessed filmmaker that we have in the wonderful state of Kerala. But I hope this film has a bigger finesse that will appeal to you,” he said.
About Nikhat Khan Hegde in L2 Empuraan
Nikhat is known for starring in films like Pathaan and Mission Mangal. Introducing her character in the film, Prithviraj wrote, “Character No: 14 Presenting Nikhat Khan Hegde as Subhadra Ben in #L2E. The rise of #Empuraan continues! #L2E Releasing on 27th March 2025.”
Describing her character in the introductory video, Nikhat said, “Subhadra Ben is a royal lady who is the owner of this huge haveli and she is regal, but still, has a lot of humanity in her. She supports and helps out a group of people who are in trouble. She has a lot of love, lot of resilience, but there’s also betrayal. And through Subhadra Ben I got to explore different layers of emotion. And I also feel honoured that I give a very important message in this film.”
L2 Empuraan is the second installment in a planned trilogy headlined by Mohanlal as the mysterious Stephen Nedumpally aka Khureshi Ab’raam. It also stars Tovino Thomas, Indrajith Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Abhimanyu Singh, Eriq Ebouaney, Jerome Flynn, and Suraj Venjaramoodu.
