Thalapathy Vijay’s action movie Leo, helmed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, was arguably the most anticipated film of late. Being part of the expanding Lokesh Cinematic Universe, expectations ran sky-high. But even with the hype and stardust, the movie was met with mixed reactions from both critics and viewers alike. Now, director Lokesh has spoken about where he feels things went wrong.
In a recent interview conducted during the promotions of his next film Coolie, Lokesh openly discussed the criticism Leo faced. He conceded that at the scripting and shooting levels, he was unsure if he should incorporate a long flashback sequence. Vijay’s Parthiban was initially conceptualised as a realistic, serious one—nothing remotely close to the typical commercial hero image, which implied there were no dance numbers or hulking moments in the first half.
But keeping in mind Vijay’s huge fan following and the box office expectations that come with his movies, Lokesh felt constrained to include a “mass moment.” In response to this, he added the now-iconic coffee shop sequence, where Vijay is partying with his on-screen daugther—something that he was hoping would touch the heart of the audience.
When it came to the second half of the film, Lokesh told that originally, he imagined a 30-minute, flashback sequence more completely exploring the past of the character. However, due to time limits and afraid of slowing the movie down or bogging it down; it was shortened to 18. He felt this settlement hurt the emotional content of the film.
“The flashback portion did not come out as I had envisioned,” Lokesh said candidly. “If I had 30 more minutes to tell that part of the story, I believe Leo could have had a much stronger impact.”