Lucifer is a 2019 Indian Malayalam-language political action thriller film directed by Prithviraj Sukumaran, in his directorial debut, and written by Murali Gopy. It is the first installment in the Lucifer Universe. It is produced by Antony Perumbavoor under Aashirvad Cinemas. It stars Mohanlal along with an ensemble cast consisting of Prithviraj Sukumaran, Manju Warrier, Tovino Thomas, Vivek Oberoi, Indrajith Sukumaran, Saniya Iyappan, Saikumar, Kalabhavan Shajohn, Baiju Santhosh, Nyla Usha, Fazil, and Sachin Khedekar.
Development for the film began in 2016 when Gopy pitched the story to Prithviraj on the sets of Tiyaan. The title of the film was taken from a shelved project directed by Rajesh Pillai, which was also written by Gopy but with a different story. Pre-production began in 2017 with Gopy completing the final draft of the screenplay in February 2018. Principal photography began in July that year and was completed in January 2019, with filming taking place across Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki, Ernakulam, and Kollam, along with schedules in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Union territory of Lakshadweep, and Russia. The film's music was composed by Deepak Dev, with the cinematography and editing handled by Sujith Vaassudev and Samjith Mohammed, respectively.
Lucifer was released in theatres worldwide on 28 March 2019 to positive reviews from critics. It was also dubbed and released in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. The film broke many box office records for a Malayalam film, crossing the mark in four days, mark in eight days, becoming the fastest Malayalam film to reach all these milestones. Lucifer was the first Malayalam film to earn more than ₹200 crore, including its box office collections and the earnings from the sale of its satellite rights and digital streaming rights in other languages. It is currently one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films. A sequel titled L2: Empuraan (2025) was released on 27 March 2025. It will be followed by a sequel titled L3: Azrael.
Plot
At Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, officer Robert McCarthy reviews reports on the Khureshi Ab'raam nexus, a notorious secret society involved in global trade. A message from the CIA links the syndicate to African warlords and includes a surveillance image taken in Istanbul in April 2006. Realizing the significance, McCarthy identifies the figure as Khureshi Ab'raam. In Kerala, Chief Minister P. K. Ramdas ("PKR"), leader of the Indian Union Front (IUF), dies while being treated at a hospital owned by the opposition leader's daughter. Acting Chief Minister Mahesha Varma exploits the situation by inciting unrest outside the hospital ahead of the coming election. During the chaos, activist Govardhan livestreams accusations that PKR had become a puppet of a powerful financial syndicate controlling Indian politics. He names five possible successors: Priyadarshini "Priya" Ramdas, Jathin Ramdas, Bimal "Bobby" Nair, Mahesha Varma, and Stephen Nedumpally, whom he calls the most dangerous of them all — Lucifer.
Priya and Jathin are PKR's children. Priya is married to Bobby, a secretive drug lord involved in real estate, Hawala operations, and narcotics trafficking, though she is unaware of his crimes. Stephen, a mysterious ally favoured by PKR, has ties to post-war reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as gold smuggling from Dubai to Kerala. Govardhan questions why PKR trusted him so completely. After PKR's death, Bobby plans to seize control of the IUF by financing it with drug money. Partnering with Abdul and international drug boss Fyodor, he arranges a deal to flood Kerala with narcotics in exchange for political protection. Stephen opposes the plan and threatens Bobby, prompting Bobby to launch a smear campaign through the IUF-backed news channel NPTV. Govardhan provides evidence linking Bobby to criminal activities and alleges that the Khureshi Ab'raam nexus backs financier Manappattil Chandy. Bobby retaliates by abducting Govardhan. Meanwhile, Stephen violently prevents Bobby's men from using a sealed timber factory for drug production. Bobby's mole Aloshy later manipulates an orphan named Aparna into falsely accusing Stephen of sexual abuse at his shelter, Ashrayam. Public outrage leads to Stephen's arrest.
While imprisoned, Stephen contacts his loyal deputy Zayed Masood, leader of an international mercenary force. Zayed sabotages Fyodor's drug shipments and forces Bobby to secure Stephen's release. At the same time, Priya discovers Bobby has abused her daughter Jhanvi and was responsible for the deaths of both Jayadevan and PKR. Desperate, she turns to Stephen for protection. Stephen's men kill the corrupt commissioner Mayilvahanam and help Priya gain control of NPTV. Aparna publicly confesses that her allegations were false, and Priya and Jathin expose Bobby's criminal empire during a press conference. Bobby is later captured in Mumbai by Fyodor's men, but Zayed rescues him so Stephen can personally execute him. Murugan, revealed to be Stephen's spy, kills Aloshy. Govardhan is freed and reunited with his family, while Jathin becomes the new Chief Minister. In a post-credits scene, Stephen meets Zayed at an undisclosed location in Russia. During a call from the gold smuggler Sanghani, Stephen reveals that he himself is Khureshi Ab'raam, confirming his control over powerful secret societies worldwide.
Cast
Production
Development
In 2012, a film titled Lucifer was reported to be in development, to be directed by Rajesh Pillai, written by Murali Gopy, and starring Mohanlal in the lead role. It was to be produced by Antony Perumbavoor of Aashirvad Cinemas, and was planned as a 2013 release. Pillai later confirmed the project and said that it is his "dream come true" to direct Mohanlal and the film will be a "treat" for his fans. Filming was to begin in 2013. Aashirvad Cinemas registered the title in 2012 with the Kerala Film Chamber of Commerce. However, in May 2013, Pillai said the production would not begin that year as he was busy with Motorcycle Diaries and Murali was working on Left Right Left; they are planning a discussion in June hoping to begin filming by January 2014. He also disclosed Lucifer would be a thriller and that the story had been developed. Pillai's regular collaborator Kunchacko Boban was reported to be part of the cast. Boban commented that he had not signed the film, but did not deny the possibility. Pillai confirmed that Gopy would also be acting in the project, besides writing it. As of May 2013, only Mohanlal and Gopy were part of the cast. In July, it was reported Murali had begun writing the screenplay. However, the project was put on hold and Pillai decided to work on other projects. After Pillai's death in February 2016, the film was shelved.
In July 2016, Gopy revealed to The Hindu in an interview that he was planning to work on a screenplay titled Lucifer between his other commitments. On 15 September, actor Prithviraj Sukumaran announced that Lucifer, written by Murali Gopy, starring Mohanlal and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas, would be his directorial debut. Murali and Prithviraj clarified that it is not the same film as Pillai's Lucifer, but they have taken the title. Murali had prepared two one-line stories both under the working title Lucifer. Pillai was to direct the film based on the first story, but that film did not materialise; he discarded that story. The second story was narrated to Prithviraj, whom he agreed to direct.
Murali had discussed the story with Mohanlal in 2012; no director was finalised at the time. Murali said that Prithviraj had shown interest in directing a film based on his screenplay and they discussed it for about a year. Prithviraj also wished to cast Mohanlal in his directorial debut, which is why he narrated the story of Lucifer to him. Murali pitched the idea to Prithviraj on the sets of Tiyaan in 2016 at the Ramoji Film City. Prithviraj was skeptical to whether Mohanlal and Antony Perumbavoor would agree on him directing the film as "it was a story that any big filmmaker would say yes to". The next day, Antony met them in Hyderabad and gave the project the greenlight. According to Prithviraj, "the thought behind the film and what the film can be" attracted him. Murali was planning to write the final draft of screenplay after finishing his acting commitments in Tiyaan and Kammara Sambhavam.
In December 2016, Mohanlal revealed that Lucifer was in early development and needed to be developed into a screenplay saying, "the content has to be good and that's what the focus is right now". In February 2017, Prithviraj revealed that pre-production would begin in late 2017 and filming would begin in 2018. In April, Mohanlal, Prithviraj, Murali and Antony announced in a press conference that the film had entered pre-production. Prithviraj revealed that the script had not yet been "fleshed out" and the rest of the cast would be decided after that. Prithviraj purchased an apartment in Thevara as a work-space for the scripting and pre-production work of Lucifer and his future projects: "I felt I needed a space to assemble my team. Do the research and develop the film. This place might well be known as Lucifer office in future". In June 2017, in an interview, Prithviraj revealed that Lucifer would be release in 2019. In October, Murali revealed that he would be taking a break from acting after Kammara Sambhavam to write Lucifer and complete it by February 2018. In December, Prithviraj revealed that the writing was progressing and filming was to commence by the end of May or early June 2018 after he completes the first schedule of Aadujeevitham.
Murali and Prithviraj narrated the final draft of the screenplay to Mohanlal on 26 March 2018 on the sets of Odiyan. Mohanlal liked the script and agreed to go ahead with shooting. In June, Mohanlal told The Times of India that the film would be shot in Kerala, Mumbai, and in a foreign location. The team was finalising the locations in Thiruvananthapuram by the end of the month. Prithviraj disclosed in a channel podcast that filming would begin on 18 July. This was later updated to 16 July. Near to the beginning of filming, Prithviraj hinted that the film deals with politics. However, he revealed that "it's a not a film about politics but the story happens with politics in the background". The names of the technical crew were revealed in July when the first poster was released. It carries the tagline "blood, brotherhood, betrayal".
Casting
In 2014, while appearing on the Tamil talk show Koffee with DD, Prithviraj said that Mohanlal and Manju Warrier are his "dream cast" if he ever directs a film. In September 2016, Murali said that he was uncertain as to whether he would be acting in the film, noting that it was premature to discuss the cast other than Mohanlal. Ultimately, he was not part of the final cast. In January 2018, Madhusudhan Rao confirmed his casting in the film. He co-starred alongside Prithviraj in Adam Joan (2017), during which he was promised a role in Lucifer. However, he eventually did not feature in the film. In the following month, Lena revealed Lucifer as one of her upcoming projects. Both Rao and Lena were not part of the final cast. Following unconfirmed reports of Warrier's casting in May, a source close to the actress confirmed the news to The Times of India. However, when asked, the production house stated the casting process was progressing and was subject to changes. She was finally cast in the role of Priyadarshini Ramdas.