‘’I Take All Blame’’: Director Lokesh Kanagaraj On Leo Dialogue Controversy (Image: twitter/dir_lokesh)
Tamil hit director Lokesh Kanagaraj has come up with a reaction on the controversies surrounding a dialogue in the trailer of his much-awaited movie Leo. The dialogue, a narration by the star actor Vijay (‘Thalapathy’ as fan call him), has recently sparked a row as the trailer became a discussion on social media round tables. Leo is the second collaboration of Lokesh Kanagaraj with Tamil superstar Vijay after Master in 2021.
In the 2.43-minute-long trailer, Vijay who plays the character of Parthiban is seen unleashing his anger to his wife, a character played by Trisha Krishnan, about someone who tortures him and his family with a cuss word. The word denotes disreputable or undesirable people in an offensive manner. The character is presented as suffering severe pain and tension at the moment and is venting out the frustration to wife as no means of survival seems left out.
A particular section of audience found discomfort in the dialogue as it is presented by a leading South actor and argued that it may result in creating a negative impact.
Addressing the controversy, director Lokesh Kanagaraj in a recent interview explained that the dialogue is presented by the character and not said by the actor. He justified the say as it is necessary to convey the exact emotion faced by the character of Parthiban in the scene. Interestingly, Mr Kanagaraj also expressed his willingness to take all the responsibilities with himself.
‘’We utter some words out of anger at times, this is that’’, said the director.
He also shared an instance occurred at the time of the shoot as Vijay enquired him about it and whether it is ‘’okay’’ to present or ‘’will it go wrong’’? Mr Lokesh convinced the actor then saying ‘’it was the correct thing for that character to do, for that scene’’.
‘’And I”ll take all the blame. It was not mouthed by actor Thalapathy Vijay. It is said by Parthiban, his character in Leo’’, director added.
Leo will hit theatre screens on October 19, and the movie presents a star-studded cast catalogue featuring Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mysskin, Priya Anand, Mansoor Ali Khan, Babu Antony, Baby Iyal, Mathew Thomas, Sandy Master, and many others. Music is done by Anirudh and the movie is produced by Lalit Kumar.
The fast-paced trailer begins with Vijay’s monologue, preparing for the powerful action and blood bath scenes to follow. A serial killer on the loose and a cop is on a mission to kill him, sets a brief premise. Thalapathy in salt and pepper beard, walks in style and thrashes mercilessly. In the fierce red and black templates, with pulsating music scores in the background Leo’s trailer unleashes terror.
Lokesh Kanagaraj is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Tamil industry. He started his career with a short film titled Avial, an anthology, in 2016. The Lokesh Cinematic Universe franchise with hard hit Kaithi (2019) and Vikram (2022) is enough to get a brief on his craft.
