Lokesh Cinematic Universe

Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) is an Indian shared universe of action thriller films created by Lokesh Kanagaraj.[lower-alpha 1] The first feature of the universe Kaithi was released in 2019 and the second installment Vikram was released on 3 June 2022.[lower-alpha 2] It is the third highest grossing Tamil film franchise.[9]

Lokesh Cinematic Universe
Created byLokesh Kanagaraj
Original workKaithi (2019)
OwnerRaaj Kamal Films International
Dream Warrior Pictures
Years2019–present
Films and television
Film(s)
Audio
Soundtrack(s)
Miscellaneous
Budgetest. ₹145–175 crores (2 films)
Box officeest. ₹525–₹605 crores (2 films)

Development

Lokesh Kanagaraj has stated that he wanted to do a shared universe of films since finishing his first feature film, Maanagaram. He explored has stated that these kind of films have longevity. During the production of Kaithi, he had the idea and experimented with it, by having many open-ended plotlines in Kaithi, which he then incorporated in Vikram, by working together with Dream Warrior Pictures and Raaj Kamal Films International, as they own the properties. He established a shared universe and has announced that more projects will be releasing in the future, that will be set in it. Though the name "Lokesh Cinematic Universe" was coined by fans, he accepted it as official.[10][11][12][3] Narain is the only actor to have reprised his roles in both the films in the universe in a major role.[13]

Films
Film Release date Director(s) Dialogue(s) Producer(s) Status
Kaithi
25 October 2019
Lokesh Kanagaraj
Lokesh Kanagaraj and Pon Parthiban
S. R. Prakashbabu, S. R. Prabhu and Thiruppur Vivek
Released
Vikram
3 June 2022
Lokesh Kanagaraj and Rathna Kumar
Kamal Haasan and R. Mahendran

Kaithi (2019)
Main article: Kaithi (2019 film)

The first installment of the LCU, it stars Karthi in the lead role, along with Narain, Arjun Das, Harish Uthaman, George Maryan and Dheena in pivotal roles. The story follows Dilli, an ex-convict, endeavors to meet his daughter for the first time after 10 years imprisonment. However, a drug raid that Inspector Bejoy orchestrates interrupts Dilli's attempts.

Vikram (2022)
Main article: Vikram (2022 film)

The second installment in the LCU stars Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi and Fahadh Faasil with Kalidas Jayaram, Narain and Chemban Vinod Jose in supporting roles and Suriya in a cameo role. The film is a spiritual successor of Vikram (1986).[14][1] The story follows a black ops squad led by Amar, who is assigned to track down a group of ruthless vigilantes. When Amar investigates the case, he realises it is not what it seems to be, and following down this path will lead to nohing, but war between everyone involved.[4][15]

LEO(2023)

Actor Narain revealed that the film will be part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe.The film will be the third installement in LCU.The film will be released on October 19, 2023, coinciding with the Dusshera Festival.

Kaithi 2 (TBA)

As implied at the end of Kaithi, Lokesh had planned for a sequel, which he confirmed after its release.[16] In an interview with Subha J Rao to Firstpost, Lokesh conveyed his interest in developing the film into a franchise, stating that he had an idea for both the prequel and the sequel, which depends on the recurring schedules of the cast members.[17] In May 2021, the film's producer, S.R.Prabhu, confirmed the sequel was in the works.

Kaithi 2 is intended to be a prequel for Dilli, focusing on his character. Later, in an interaction with fans through Twitter, he explained about Anbu's return in Vikram, as he was knocked out and not dead, though he had stitch marks in his jaw, due to the injuries.[18]

Following the success of Vikram, Lokesh planned to expand the scale of the sequel,[4] with S. R. Prabhu admitting that it would be bigger than the first film.[19] Production of the film was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2022, but was delayed as Lokesh intended to resume the project after completing his planned project with Vijay, titled Leo.

Vikram 2 (TBA)

Owing to the film's success, Kamal Haasan in an interview with Pinkvilla, asserted the possibility of a sequel to Vikram, and there were also reports stating that there would be a third sequel to Vikram, which would be part of Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU).[20][21][22]

Cast and characters
List indicator(s)

This section includes characters who will appear or have appeared in Lokesh Cinematic Universe.

  • An empty, dark grey cell indicates the character was not in the film, or that the character's official presence has not yet been confirmed.
  •  C indicates a cameo role.
  •  M indicates an appearance in onscreen movie footage.
  •  V indicates a voice-only role.
  •  Y indicates a younger version of the character.
  • m refers to the character being mentioned.
Characters Films
Kaithi (2019) Vikram (2022)
Commander Arun Kumar Vikram / Karnan Kamal Haasanm

[23]

 Kamal Hassan
Dilli Karthi KarthiV
Rolex SuriyaC
Agent Amar Fahadh Faasil
Sandhanam Vijay Sethupathi
Anbu Doss Arjun Das Arjun DasC
Inspector Bejoy Narain
Stephen Raj Hareesh Peradi Hareesh PeradiC
Adaikalam Harish Uthaman Harish UthamanC
Kamatchi Dheena DheenaC
Gayathri Amar Gayathrie Shankar
Amudha Baby Monica Baby MonicaC
Napoleon George Maryan George MaryanM
ACP Prabhanjan Kalidas Jayaram
Jose Chemban Vinod Jose
Cutting Plier Jaffer Sadiq
Agent Tina Vasanthi
Agent Lawrence Elango Kumaravel
Agent Uppiliappan Santhana Bharathi
Vikram Jr. Baby Darshan

Reception

Box office performance

The Lokesh Cinematic Universe is one of the highest-grossing Tamil film franchises.

Film Release Budget Box office Ref(s)
Kaithi 25 October 2019 ₹25 crore (US$3.1 million) ₹105 crore (US$13 million) [24]
Vikram 3 June 2022 ₹120 crore (US$15 million)–₹150 crore (US$19 million) ₹420 crore (US$53 million)–₹500 crore (US$63 million) [25][26][27]
Total ₹145 crore (US$18 million)–₹175 crore (US$22 million) ₹525 crore (US$66 million)–₹605 crore (US$76 million)

Notes
  1. [1][2][3][4][5]
  2. [6][7][8]

References
  1. Thapa, Shaurya (11 July 2022). "Vikram's Lokesh Cinematic Universe and All Other MCUs of Indian Cinema". India Today. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
  2. Athimuthu, Soundarya (14 June 2022). "What Is 'Vikram' Director Lokesh Kanagaraj's 'Lokesh Cinematic Universe'?". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  3. "Lokesh Kanagaraj reveals the idea of a cinematic universe". The Times of India. 13 June 2022. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
  4. S, Srivatsan (3 June 2022). "'Vikram' movie review: Kamal Haasan steps back to watch Fahadh Faasil and Vijay Sethupathi have fun in Lokesh Cinematic Universe". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2022.
  5. "A Ghost and a prisoner – One-stop shop for all things that might connect Kaithi and Vikram". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  6. Athimuthu, Soundarya (3 June 2022). "'Vikram' Review: Kamal, Fahadh & Vijay Sethupathi Shine in Lokesh's Universe". TheQuint. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  7. "Vikram sequel to connect to Kaithi; Director Lokesh Kanagaraj planning crime cinematic universe [Exclusive]". Bollywood Life. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  8. "Kamal Haasan confirms Lokesh Kanagaraj's cinematic universe while talking about 'Vikram'? – Tamil News". IndiaGlitz.com. 19 May 2022. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  9. "Vikram director Lokesh Kanagaraj is building his own cinematic universe". The Week. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  10. Krishna (9 June 2022). NELSON-ஐ திட்டுறது கஷ்டமா இருக்கு! – Lokesh Kanagaraj Post Release Interview Part-1 | Vikram (in Tamil). Cinema Vikatan. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  11. "Lokesh Kanagaraj spills a bean on the next film in his cinematic universe – 'Kaithi 2' confirmed!". IndiaGlitz. 9 June 2022. Archived from the original on 13 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  12. Rangan, Baradwaj (10 June 2022). Lokesh kanagaraj Interview With Baradwaj Rangan (in Tamil). Galatta Plus. Archived from the original on 10 June 2022. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
  13. "Narain: Vikram's stellar response and box office numbers are new to me". Cinema Express. Archived from the original on 22 June 2022. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  14. "Kamal Haasan's 'Vikram' shatters box-office records, check out his other hit films". WION. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  15. "5 reasons why you shouldn't miss Lokesh Kanagaraj's 'Vikram'". DT next. Archived from the original on 4 June 2022. Retrieved 8 June 2022.
  16. "Lokesh Kanagaraj confirms 'Kaithi 2' with Karthi". The News Minute. 29 October 2019. Archived from the original on 3 January 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
  18. "Anbu hasn't died, more details in Kaithi 2: Lokesh Kanagaraj in Q&A". DT Next. 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 8 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  19. "கைதி 2 வேலைகள் எப்போது தொடக்கம்?... தயாரிப்பாளர் கொடுத்த அப்டேட்". Zee News (in Tamil). 12 June 2022. Archived from the original on 12 June 2022. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  20. "EXCLUSIVE: Vikram 2 'already' on the cards? Kamal Haasan clears the air on the sequel". 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  21. "EXCLUSIVE: Vijay to play a gangster in his 40s in Lokesh Kanagaraj's next; Might enter LCU with Kamal Haasan". PINKVILLA. 18 June 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 19 June 2022.
  22. "Kamal Haasan starrer Vikram to get two sequels?". Bollywood Hungama. 8 June 2022. Archived from the original on 4 December 2022. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
  23. "EXCLUSIVE: Who is the Ghost in Kaithi? Kamal Haasan clears the air on the GHOST...The Ghost is none other than Vikram". 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  24. "Bigil, Petta, Viswasam, Kanchana 3, Nerkonda Paarvai, Kaithi power Kollywood's theatrical takings in 2019 to Rs 1000 cr-Entertainment News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 4 December 2019. Archived from the original on 28 December 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  25. manimegalai.a. "வெற்றிகரமாக 75 நாட்களை நிறைவு செய்த விக்ரம்..! இதுவரை வசூல் செய்தது மட்டும் எத்தனை கோடி தெரியுமா?". Asianet News Network (in Tamil). Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
  26. "Vikram: Here's how many crores Kamal Haasan, Fahadh Faasil & others charged for their roles in the movie made on a budget of Rs 120 Crores". GQ India. 3 June 2022. Archived from the original on 5 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  27. "Kamal Haasan's 'Vikram' to hit theatres tomorrow. Can it beat 'Pushpa', 'RRR' and 'KGF: Chapter 2'?". Business Today. 2 June 2022. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
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