Lokesh Defends Portrayal of Drugs in His Films

In a candid conversation with Baradwaj Rangan, director Lokesh Kanagaraj addressed some of the most persistent criticisms around the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU).

He acknowledged that a section of the audience still hates the LCU — with some even accusing it of glorifying drugs. “It’s disheartening,” Lokesh admitted.

“My actual intention is the complete opposite — to spread awareness about staying away from drugs. That’s a message I’m going to make even clearer in my upcoming films.”

Interestingly, Lokesh clarified that the term “LCU” wasn’t coined by him, but by fans. The idea of a connected universe emerged organically — it wasn’t part of his plan from the beginning.

He traced the origins of the LCU back to Vikram (2022), starring Kamal Haasan. The film was originally meant to be a standalone story. But while developing the script, Lokesh realized that one of the characters bore a striking resemblance to Inspector Bejoy from Kaithi.

Rather than create a new role, he decided to use the same character — a small choice that triggered a much larger idea.

When he discussed this with his team, it sparked debate, but eventually gave birth to the shared cinematic universe we now know as the LCU.

Lokesh also spoke about his upcoming film Coolie, starring Rajinikanth. He revealed that the flashback portion in Coolie would be emotionally rich and significantly different from what he’s done before.

Unlike Leo, where he had to trim the flashback due to runtime constraints, Coolie gave him the freedom to explore that space in depth.

Lokesh even noted that Leo could have turned out stronger if he’d had more time for that segment — but such compromises are often dictated by theatre economics.