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Lokesh Kanagaraj
Lokesh in 2020
Born	(1986-03-14) 14 March 1986 (age 38) Kinathukadavu, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Alma mater	PSG College of Arts and Science
Occupations	Film director screenwriter
Years active	2015–present
Known for	Lokesh Cinematic Universe (2019 - present)

Lokesh Kanagaraj is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Tamil films. He started his career with a short film in the 2016 anthology Aviyal. He later directed his first feature film Maanagaram (2017). He also created the Lokesh Cinematic Universe franchise with his films Kaithi (2019) and Vikram (2022). His upcoming film, Leo (2023) marks his second collaboration with Vijay after Master (2021).

Early life

Lokesh Kanagaraj was born in Kinathukadavu, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu, India. In PSG College of Arts and Science, he majored in Fashion Technology before pursuing an MBA. He did his schooling in Palanayiammal Matric Hr. Sec. School Kalliyapuram, Pollachi. He is an ex-bank employee. He pursued his passion towards film making by participating in a corporate short film competition. The judge of the competition was Karthik Subbaraj. Impressed with his short film, he encouraged Lokesh to pursue a directorial career making films.

Career

In 2016, his short film, Kalam, was included in the anthology film, Aviyal, produced by Karthik Subbaraj. In 2017, he made his directorial feature debut with the hyperlink film, Maanagaram. In late 2018, he began working on a film for Dream Warrior Pictures, the same production company behind Maanagaram. With Karthi in the lead role, the action-thriller was titled Kaithi.

His next after Kaithi was the action-drama film, Master, starring Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi. It was released on 13 January 2021, a day before the Pongal festival. It opened to mostly positive reviews and emerged as a commercial success. Master was the highest grossing Indian film of 2021.

He then directed Vikram (2022), starring Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, and Fahadh Faasil. Following the huge success of the film, he is actively creating the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, on the basis of carrying the story forward from Kaithi and Vikram. His next directorial after Vikram will be Vijay's 67th film, Leo and it will be the continuation of the Universe. Leo will also have an English dubbed theatrical release first time for both Lokesh and Vijay as confirmed by the production team.If this movie is in LCU no doubt it will collect more than 500cr in box office.Huge hype on Lokesh and his team along with Anirudh music after his blockbuster album Master and his mesmerising impactful Vikram Album.

As per latest news,Lokesh will be directing Thalaivar 171 with Superstar Rajinikanth and Anirudh musical after Jailer Blockbuster Run in theaters.Lokesh is currently expected to collaborate with SuperStar under LCU making it bigger Universe like Marvel.Already biggest name like Karthi,Kamal,Fahad,VJS,Surya in LCU now Vijay,Rajini expected to enter LCU.As per interview by Lokesh,he is wishing to make movie with AjithKumar making his fans going crazy and having huge expectations for his upcoming movies like Leo,Kaithi 2 and now Thalaivar 171.If Collaboration with AjithKumar happens for LCU,his movies will easily go over 1000cr like Hindi,Telugu,Kananada movies.

In 2023, Lokesh announced his plans to quit directing after completing at least 10 films.

Filmography

Recurring collaborations

Editor Philomin Raj has worked on five films. Anirudh, Arjun Das, Anbariv and Arun Alexander has worked on three films. Only people who have worked in three or more films are listed. This list only concerns Lokesh Kanagaraj's directorial films.

Films	Philomin Raj	Anirudh Ravichander	Arjun Das	Arun Alexander	Anbariv
Maanagaram (2017)	Y			Y
Kaithi (2019)	Y		Y	Y
Master (2021)	Y	Y	Y	Y
Vikram (2022)	Y	Y	Y Cameo		Y
Leo (2023)	Y	Y			Y
Thalaivar171 (2024)	Y	Y			Y

Accolades

References

1. Kanagaraj In Conversation With Ramya Subramanian (in Tamil). Event occurs at 36:18. Retrieved 25 May 2022 – via YouTube.
2. "Vijay and Lokesh Kanagaraj's film Thalapathy 67 officially announced". The News Minute. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
3. "MASTER". Australian Classification Board. Master is an action film from India about a professor, JD, who is sent to teach at a juvenile reform school for three months.
4. Kanagaraj, Lokesh (22 October 2019). "Lokesh Kanagaraj Interview: Kaithi Is About A Father's Love And That Rare Bond Between Strangers". Silverscreen India (Interview). Interviewed by Subha J Rao. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
5. Sangeetha, P (19 March 2019). "A celebration of cinema and filmmaking". The Times of India.
6. 'தளபதி-64' பத்தி இப்போ கேட்காதீங்க - Lokesh Kanagaraj | Kaithi | Thalapathy 64 [Don't ask about 'Thalapathy-64' now: Lokesh Kanagaraj | Kaithi | Thalapathy 64]. Open Pannaa (in Tamil). Event occurs at . Retrieved 27 January 2021 – via YouTube.
7. முதல் படத்திலேயே முத்திரை பதித்த இளம் இயக்குநர்களுடன் ஒரு உரையாடல் | சினிமா18 [A conversation with young directors who made their mark with their first film | Cinema18]. News 18 Tamil Nadu (in Tamil). Event occurs at . Retrieved 25 January 2021 – via YouTube.
8. Anantharam, Chitra Deepa (9 March 2017). "The lives of others". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
9. "Maanagaram- Opens big on March 10". Sify. Archived from the original on 7 March 2017.
10. "No heroine in Karthi's next with Lokesh Kanagaraj". The News Minute. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
11. "Kaithi will showcase Karthi's potential as a versatile actor: Lokesh Kanagaraj". The Times of India. 11 March 2019. Retrieved 14 April 2019.
12. "Team Thalapathy 64 arrives in Delhi; second schedule begins". The Indian Express. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
13. "2021 Top grossers in Tamil Nadu – Thalapathy Vijay's Master tops". Pinkvilla. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
14. "Year Ender 2021: Master to Annaatthe, Highest-grossing Tamil Movies of 2021". News18. 29 December 2021. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
15. "Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj says he has no plans to stay in film industry for long: 'I will do 10 movies and quit'". The Indian Express. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
16. "Sundeep Kishan, Vijay Sethupathi's film Michael gets a release date in February; Check out new poster". Pinkvilla. 3 January 2023. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
17. Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (23 January 2023). "Interview: Sundeep Kishan says the gangster drama movie 'Michael' has changed him as an actor and a person". The Hindu. Retrieved 23 January 2023.

External links

• Lokesh Kanagaraj at IMDb

• Living people
• Tamil film directors
• Tamil screenwriters
• 21st-century Indian film directors
• 1986 births