Salaar-fame Kaarthikeyaa Dev has been cast to play the younger version of Prithviraj Sukumaran's character Zayed Masood in L2: Empuraan. Interestingly, he played the younger part of Prithviraj's character Varadharaja Mannar in Salaar as well.

In his character introduction video shared by Empuraan makers, Kaarthikeyaa speaks about his "fanboy" experience working under Prithviraj's direction. He called Zayed a "very inspiring character" because he stands against all odds. According to Kaarthikeyaa, Prithviraj described Zayed as someone whose "true power lies in his unwavering determination."

Earlier in the day, the makers introduced Kishore G Kumar's character Karthik, an Intelligence Bureau officer. The film, which marks Mohanlal's return as Khureshi-Ab'raam/Stephen Nedumbally, also has other main actors like Tovino Thomas, Manju Warrier, Indrajith Sukumaran, Saikumar, Nandu, Saniya Iyappan, Sshivada, and Baiju Santhosh reprising their roles from Lucifer.

Produced by Aashirvad Cinemas and Lyca Productions, Empuraan is set for release on March 27.