Lokesh to Repeat Leo Record with Coolie / Thalapathy could not folllow Kamal's advice

Why Lokesh Kanagaraj will repeat Leo success with Coolie and Rajinikanth ?  Released in 2023, Leo marked the reunion of Lokesh Kanagaraj and Thalapathy Vijay after Master. With crazy hype on the ground, the film clocked a superb 66 crore net at the Indian box office on day 1.  This figure was possible after Leo clocked high figures in two Telugu States as well as in Kerala and Karnataka. Now Coolie will have to play second fiddle to War 2 that has NTR Je with Hrithik. But looks like Coolie is just a rampage in these States after the lukewarm response to War 2.

Coolie has many things going its way. It has many familiar faces, including Rajinikanth and Nagarjuna. And on top of that there is adequate commercial appeal with the massy BGMs and commercial visuals.

Read more at: https://www.m9.news/movienews/coolie-shock-to-war-2-in-telugu-states. War 2 is going to be a Hindi flavoured spy actioner with very little domestic Telugu touch. Barring the presence of NTR, there might not be too much to get excited for the Telugu audience.

As officially announced, Coolie is scheduled to release on August 14, 2025. In a solo release, the film would  definitely bag the biggest opening ever for a Tamil film, as War 2 is a Hindi film dubbed in Telugu – Tamil .  Vijay’s Leo holds the record of the biggest Kollywood opening at the Indian box office with its massive day 1 collection of 60 crore+.  Lokesh will match it or go one step more with Coolie.

   According to an earlier report by India Today, Kamal Haasan was asked about Vijay’s films in a television interview. The National Award-winning actor responded by saying that Vijay had given some blockbuster films, and he had even seen some of them. But Kamal Haasan also wanted Vijay to make good films like accomplished Hindi film industry actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. He further said that Vijay has the potential to do that. By saying that Vijay should make ‘good films’ like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan might have meant that he should do films that blend quality storytelling with mass appeal.

Interestingly, Kamal Haasan’s remark about Vijay came in the same year when the latter’s film Bairavaa was released in theatres. Although the film received an underwhelming response from several critics, Bairavaa reportedly became Vijay’s fastest film to breach the 100-crore mark at that time (Via Indian Express) Before that, Vijay starred in Atlee’s action thriller Theri, which is regarded as one of the most popular films of his career. Both these Bollywood stars were doing content-oriented films, which did well commercially. Perhaps that’s why Kamal Haasan cited Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as examples and wanted Vijay not to focus solely on mass entertainers. An advice that Thalapathy could not take heed. Last film is Jana Nayakan.

According to an earlier report by India Today, Kamal Haasan was asked about Vijay’s films in a television interview. The National Award-winning actor responded by saying that Vijay had given some blockbuster films, and he had even seen some of them. But Kamal Haasan also wanted Vijay to make good films like accomplished Hindi film industry actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. He further said that Vijay has the potential to do that. By saying that Vijay should make ‘good films’ like Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan, Kamal Haasan might have meant that he should do films that blend quality storytelling with mass appeal.

Interestingly, Kamal Haasan’s remark about Vijay came in the same year when the latter’s film Bairavaa was released in theatres. Although the film received an underwhelming response from several critics, Bairavaa reportedly became Vijay’s fastest film to breach the 100-crore mark at that time (Via Indian Express) Before that, Vijay starred in Atlee’s action thriller Theri, which is regarded as one of the most popular films of his career. Both these Bollywood stars were doing content-oriented films, which did well commercially. Perhaps that’s why Kamal Haasan cited Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan as examples and wanted Vijay not to focus solely on mass entertainers. An advice that Thalapathy could not take heed. Last film is Jana Nayakan.