Lokesh Kanagaraj opens up on the future of LCU, how ‘AA23’ happened and what criticism of ‘Coolie’ taught him

A lot has been spoken about ace filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj over the last year. Despite collecting more than ₹500 crores at the box office, his previous film, the Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie, drew a lot of flak from audiences and critics and was also subjected to online trolling. Further, there were speculations that the post-release criticism led to Lokesh being dropped from the much-awaited Rajinikanth-Kamal Haasan reunion film. It didn’t stop there; netizens came across reports stating that even Aamir Khan backed out of the previously announced superhero film helmed by Lokesh, a rumour that Aamir’s team soon clarified to be false.

The real curveball, however, came a few weeks ago. While the audiences were waiting to get an update from Lokesh on Kaithi 2 — his much-awaited Lokesh Cinematic Universe film starring Karthi, which has been in the talks after Lokesh’s previous LCU film Leo — it was announced that the director would team up with Telugu star Allu Arjun for an upcoming film tentatively titled AA23. All this fuelled speculations that Lokesh has dropped LCU altogether and that Kaithi 2 has been shelved due to a tiff between Lokesh and the makers.

Now, on Monday (January 26), a calm and composed Lokesh addressed the media in Chennai to put to rest many of these controversies. First and foremost, Lokesh thanked the audience for the reception his film Coolie got and said that he was grateful to know that the film ran well for 35 days and turned out to be a profitable venture for Sun Pictures despite all the criticism. “The criticism made me think a lot. I understood the kind of cinema and storytelling the audience wants from me. I take all of that as lessons, and I will try my best to ensure my upcoming films don’t get such criticisms,” he said.

Stating that he doesn’t take critical comments too personally, the star director said that it would be unfair to accept acclaim and reject criticism. “Coolie wasn’t my first film. Maanagaram was my first film. And I know how much appreciation I received in those nine years. So it’s unfair not to accept criticism. A film is for the consumption of the audience, and if they are criticising something, we need to accept it, right?”

Even if you were a passive social media user, what must have struck you is how emotionally invested Lokesh’s fandom has been throughout these difficult times. Even when they criticise him, it seems to come from a place of concern, and Lokesh said that he is grateful to have such fans. “For instance, if you have 10 friends, there might be one or two who point out your flaws. That doesn’t mean they aren’t your friends, no? My fan base is of that kind, and I am very happy about it,” he said.

Of the many things that worked against Coolie, the enormous pre-release buzz and sky-high expectations on the film’s box office performance certainly backfired big-time. While we have seen such cases before, the magnitude of it was such that even common people started wondering if stars and technicians drumming up their film during the pre-release interviews could have led to the same. Lokesh accepted that this was indeed the case.

“My ideology is that you can’t make a film aiming for a specific box office collection. We can’t write a film saying, ‘This will collect ₹1000 crores.’ But no matter how much I told them not to, many technicians and cast members, out of excitement for the film, Rajini sir and seeing so many stars together, spoke about the ₹1000 crores box office collection. Because of that, I am now held answerable even for a film that earned ₹500 crores,” he said, adding that he now believes that promotions need to be more transparent. “I realise that I too end up speaking to the audiences as I would to my friends, and then it seems like exaggeration to them, and it backfires on me after the release.”

If there’s a press interaction with Lokesh Kanagaraj, it is of near-certainty that someone is bound to pose a question on the stark depiction of violence in his films and its impact on audiences. Lokesh, as he has always done, responded by explaining the functions of the action entertainer genre. “I grew up watching action films such as Thevar Magan and Virumaandi. Action films are world-renowned, and the current generation of audiences is exposed to Hollywood titles like Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad and Dexter. So, they would tend to compare your film with the web series they are consuming. Now, that doesn’t mean Hollywood-esque making means violence. I don’t even like to call it violence; these are action films,” said Lokesh, adding that it is unfair to hold films accountable for the crimes that happen in society.

“Shouldn’t the audiences, too, have that responsibility? If a two-hour film is changing you so much, then it only says that you are mentally weak. Tomorrow, you might get influenced by anything. So both sides need to be responsible,” said the filmmaker.

Lokesh’s films resound with an anti-drug message. When asked about whether such themes were necessary, Lokesh restated his belief in making big stars show their support for his anti-drug cause on screen. “I have never glorified or spoken for the consumption of drugs in any of my films. In Kaithi, Maryan George’s character and Karthi sir’s character destroy the consignment of drugs, stating that as the reason behind many youngsters’ downfall. In Master, I have spoken about how we don’t let children under 18 enter theatre halls for some films, but somehow alcohol and cigarettes are reaching their hands. In Vikram, I spoke about the importance of a drug-free society. I do this because I want to use my heroes to tell this message as loud as possible,” he said, before offering a shocking tidbit about how big a social evil drugs have become.

“When I was starting Kaithi, someone asked if there was logic in ₹9000 crores worth of drugs being moved, and when we were shooting the film, we got information that over ₹20,000 crores worth of drugs were seized somewhere.” The director further added that apart from making films, he has also been supporting the Say No To Drugs campaign in his own way.

“We have been going to every college, preaching this to students. I have made 15,000 students take a pledge not to touch drugs. I spoke to the Commissioner of Police in Coimbatore to hold a short film competition in the city on the topic ‘Say No To Drugs’, and I hired the winner as my assistant director. So, I strongly believe that I should make big heroes utter ‘Say No To Drugs’ to the audience.”

Up next, Lokesh will be seen in DC — not as a director, but as an actor. The film, directed by Arun Matheswaran, has him play the male lead opposite Wamiqa Gabbi. “After Coolie, I knew I had a break for 6-7 months. When Arun narrated the story, he said that we only need about 60 days to shoot this film. So instead of going on a vacation, I thought of taking on this project to learn and observe,” he said.

It certainly didn’t feel like a vacation, it seems. “Acting isn’t easy. It is indeed quite difficult. I wanted to learn something new, and I knew Arun, who’s also my friend, so I thought it would be easy. But it’s not that easy. I don’t know if I will continue acting,” he said. Apart from this, Lokesh will also be seen in a cameo appearance in Vijay’s Jana Nayagan, details of which the director doesn’t wish to divulge yet.

For now, after months of silence and online negativity, Lokesh seems quite positive about his place in cinema, and most importantly, unperturbed by the online toxicity that he has been subjected to. If the announcement teaser of AA23 says anything, it seems to be a perfect launchpad for Lokesh to make a scintillating return to form — one that hopefully doesn’t get bogged down by unnecessary pre-release hype. Perhaps if we let him be, Lokesh will do what Lokesh does best.