'Thalapathy' Vijay's Leo is scheduled to open in cinemas worldwide on October 19 and promotions have already begun for the highly-anticipated action film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. The blockbuster filmmaker sat down with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, to talk about whether Leo finds a place in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU), while also opening up on his plans for the franchise's future. Addressing the query about how there are several filmmakers in Hindi cinema working together on similar film franchises and whether he'd be open to collaborating with other Tamil directors to be a part of the LCU, Lokesh Kanagaraj said, "I don't want it to loosen up since it's just been formed. For example, if 5-6 films are made in this universe, then, I would like to collaborate with someone else. As of now, I just need to build it very strong. It's in the basement level now and I don't want multiple people to touch it."
Speaking about the LCU and its various properties, including his plans for building it up ahead, Lokesh Kanagaraj states, "I have ideas to write a spinoff kind-of a web series for characters like Agent Tina from Vikram and Napoleon in Kaithi. That will again contribute to the film. And, there's no need for me to direct them since others can also oversee the work. But, it all comes down to the timing and I have to sit down and write first." Opening up on how he wants to be the single person handling the LCU until it becomes strong, the trendsetting filmmaker said, "I would say that I've written something and I'll ask another director if this story can be made into a film and then ask that person to come into my universe and direct it for me. That's how I want it to be done. But before that, the universe needs to be built by those 5-6 films." Upon being asked whether Vijay's Leo is a part of the LCU, Lokesh Kanagaraj said, "I can't say it yet just because I don't want to break this."
Expectations are huge for Leo and the buzz around whether it is connected to the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) is huge, especially after the events in Kamal Haasan's Vikram (2022) also starring Vijay Sethupathi, Fahadh Faasil, and Suriya in a powerful cameo as Rolex and Karthi's Kaithi (2019) were established to have occurred during the same timeframe. Fans will have to wait till October 19 to find out the big answer whether Vijay's Leo is also going to be a part of the LCU. Watch Lokesh Kanagaraj in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
