On Saturday, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma made an appearance on the sets of Empuraan, the much-anticipated sequel to Lucifer. The visit reunited Ram with Mohanlal, who had starred in the director’s 2002 Bollywood crime drama Company, which marked the veteran actor’s Hindi debut.
Ram shared a selfie with Mohanlal, who was in costume as Stephen Nedumpally, his character from Lucifer. The caption read, “Memories of COMPANY..Met the one and only Mohanlal after a long long time.” The director also took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on actor-turned-director Prithviraj Sukumaran, quipping, “Me the DIRECTOR watching an ACTOR direct. Prithviraj sir, if you take away our job also, what will we do?”
The comment drew a courteous response from Prithviraj, who replied, “Nobody. NOBODY… can take away what you have done for Indian cinema Sir! Was a privilege to have you on sets!” The exchange continued with Ram responding to Prithviraj's tweet with his characteristic wit, asking, “But what about what I have undone sir?😎.”
Later, Prithviraj offered a more elaborate tribute on Instagram, describing Ram as “an absolute master” and one of Indian cinema’s finest auteurs. He credited the filmmaker with shaping the craft of an entire generation and hinted at a forthcoming “vintage RGV underworld” project, sparking speculation about Ram’s comeback.
Ram’s trajectory over the past decade has been marked by missteps, with his recent films struggling to match the critical and commercial success of his earlier work. The director, whose last directorial venture was the Telugu political thriller Vyuham, recently made a cameo appearance in the Prabhas-starrer Kalki 2898 AD. His next project is a psychological thriller titled Saaree, directed by Giri Krishna Kamal, which he is producing.
