Lokesh Kanagaraj opens up on backing out of Rajinikanth-Kamal Haasan film, offers clarity on ‘Kaithi 2’ and LCU

Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj opened up about backing out of the much-awaited Rajinikanth-Kamal Haasan film at a press conference in Chennai on Monday, January 26, 2026. The director also shared updates on his upcoming projects.

Speaking about Thalaivar 173, Lokesh said, “I was in talks to do the film with Rajinikanth sir and Kamal Haasan sir. They both were quite eager to do a film together, and that was a very big opportunity to me, because that’d mean that they’re acting together after 46 years.”

The filmmaker said that he worked on a story for one and a half months. “I wrote sincerely and gave my best to make a film starring both the legends. I narrated an action script, which they both were quite excited about. However, they noted how they’ve been doing a lot of action films of late…even their upcoming films like Jailer 2 and Kamal sir’s film with Anbariv masters are action films. So they wanted to do a light-hearted film together. I cannot write that kind of film, and that’s why I backed out of that project,” he said.

Lokesh then proceeded to offer clarity on Kaithi 2, the much-awaited sequel film that is part of his Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU). The Karthi starrer, which he was supposed to do after Leo(2023), was postponed due to his subsequent commitments.

Lokesh said that he wanted to do Kaithi 2 after Rajinikanth’s Coolie. “But because of the film with Rajini sir and Kamal sir, I had asked the production banner for some time. Now, Karthi sir and the team of Kaithi 2 did not know when I’d return to their project, and so they went ahead and signed another director for those dates. So, I now had some time before Kaithi 2,” he said.

Lokesh added, “Meanwhile, Mythri Movie Makers had given me an advance six years ago, and so I thought of clearing that commitment. I have always wanted to work with Allu Arjun sir, and we have been in talks for over 3 years. So that’s how AA23 started. But I can confidently say that my film after this will be Kaithi 2.”

Now, following the announcement that his next is with Allu Arjun, there were speculations that Lokesh has decided to scrap LCU. Speaking about it, the filmmaker said, “LCU isn’t GSquad (his production banner) for me to simply close down. In fact, the very name LCU is something the fans gave. So I can’t decide to shut it down. Be it Kaithi 2, Vikram 2 or Rolex, these are all my commitments, and I can’t shy away from them,” he said, adding that LCU will be reopened immediately after the Allu Arjun film. “In the meanwhile, we have an LCU film Benz in production, which will come out soon.”

The director also confirmed that he is still in talks with Aamir Khan for the superhero film that they had previously announced. “Aamir Sir and I both have a lot of commitments. So, while we don’t know when that will happen, we are talking about it,” he said.

Meanwhile, Thalaivar 173 will be helmed by Cibi Chakaravarthi and backed by Kamal Haasan and R Mahendran under Raaj Kamal Films International (RKFI). Earlier, filmmaker Sundar C was attached to the project; however, he later decided to step back from it.