How did director and screenwriter Lokesh Kanagaraj end up teaming up with mass Tamil star Thalapathy Vijay, and what is Leo Vijay movie about? Does the movie justify the estimated Leo movie budget of 250-350 crores? But first, let zip through Lokesh Kangaraj’s filmography.
Once upon a time in 2016, a young new director’s sun dawned in the Tamil film industry. After directing one of the short films in a movie anthology, Aviyal (2016), Lokesh Kangaraj has went on to make Tamil box office history.
A big fan of Hollywood movies, Lokesh wanted to make action dramas that do not follow the usual Tamil mega hero template. Kangaraj looks to set an original visual style and grittiness in framing his action movies.
After the moderate but significant success of his first feature, a multi-story parallel thriller, Maanagaram (2017), Kangaraj was determined to not merely survive, but go against the norm.
A news article about a former prisoner was the germ of an idea that became Kaithi (2019), an action drama set on a single night. For popular Tamil cinema, a heroine-less and songless movie was a daring, unusual exercise. When the film became a blockbuster, people took notice. The Lokesh Kangaraj Universe (LKU), was furthered from events in Kaithi. The mega-hit Kamal Hassan action thriller Vikram (2022) was next. Leo (2023) is the third LKU movie.
Thalapathy Vijay and Lokesh Kangaraj Leo movie collaboration
Lokesh Kangaraj first collaborated with Thalapathy Vijay on the face-off drama Master (2021), which also featured Vijay Sethupathi as the villain. Kangaraj later revealed in an interview that making hero template movies is just not his style. But then, he is also looking to prove himself movie after movie, so that eventually he gets 100% creative control on the next film project.
Master by Kangaraj’s own admission was 50% his and 50% about catering to the massive Thalapathy Vijay fanbase. Leo (2023) movie is a complete director’s vehicle, the director revealed in an interview.
With Kaithi 2 and a Rolex movie on the cards, Kangaraj is now passing on some of his screenplays to other directors. He just doesn’t have the time to push a smaller, offbeat movie, that wouldn’t be from LKU.
Also, Lokesh is keen on directing more movies from the LKU and set up a strong foundation of five-six movies, before collaborating with other directors. Unlike other movie franchises, where various directors eventually create and expand the universe, LK is keen to continue on the director’s chair for now.
What to expect from Leo Vijay movie?
Leo, a Thalapathy Vijay action drama, has a runtime of two hours, forty-three minutes. As with Vikram, the violence seems brutal, bloody, and depicted in graphic detail.
Despite breaking convention, Lokesh Kangaraj has had to add a song or two, on the producers’ insistence in each of his movies. Leo is no exception. Even then, in his own words, the director ensures that the songs fit or further the narrative.
Eventually, he does hope that songs will be done away with, if the movie genre allows for it. The director’s collaboration with music director Anirudh makes for interesting reading. The director shares reference background scores and sometimes song references. But he largely trusts Anirudh with the music, hardly interrupting in the composing process. The two Anirudh songs for Leo have already gone viral on YouTube.
The movie titles for Lokesh Kangaraj movies are short and crisp intentionally, he wants the movie name to register immediately with the audience. Leo is the shortest name yet for a LK movie yet.
Leo seems to be a far cry from the usual mega star vehicle that Thalapathy Vijay stars in. As the director has revealed, there is no intro song, no ‘punch’ dialogues, no intro fight. It is character and plot driven.
The Tamil movie Leo has Trisha working with Thalapathy Vijay after a long gap. Leo also stars Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Menon, Mansoor Ali Khan, Mysskin, Priya Anand and many others.
