Lokesh Kanagaraj Age, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Lokesh Kanagaraj

• Lokesh Kanagaraj, a prominent figure in the Tamil film industry, is a renowned Indian film director and screenwriter. His 2019 film Kaithi marked a significant milestone in his career, catapulting him to fame and success with its tremendous box office success.

• Lokesh’s father was employed as a bus conductor.

• During his college years, Lokesh developed a strong interest in filmmaking. After completing his master’s degree in management, he spent nearly five years working at a private bank in Chennai. However, his passion for filmmaking never waned, and he decided to participate in the Clubace Short Film Festival, a corporate competition. One of the judges on the panel happened to be renowned Indian director Karthik Subbaraj. Lokesh presented his short film Acham Thavir, which impressed everyone and ultimately won him the Best Director award. Karthik, captivated by Lokesh’s directorial skills, encouraged him to pursue a career in filmmaking. Inspired by this advice, Lokesh made the bold decision to leave his job and follow his passion. In an interview, Lokesh admitted that he had never received any formal training in directing, but he had learned the intricacies of filmmaking through studying the works of Kamal Haasan.

• The short film Customer Delight, directed by Lokesh in 2014, received the Best Shortfilm Award at the All India Corporate Film Competition.

• Lokesh received an invitation to serve as a judge at the AVTAR (Amateur Visualizers Talents Awards and Recognitions) film festival, held at Dr G R Damodaran College of Science in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, on 16 March 2017.

• During his directorial work on the film Kaithi in 2019, Lokesh Kanagaraj gained recognition for his direction of the action thriller which featured Karthi in the lead role. The film received a nomination for the Best Director Award at the South Indian International Movie Awards. Lokesh Kanagaraj can be seen on the right side in the image.

• Lokesh Kanagaraj, the director of the highly successful film Kaithi, continued his streak with the release of Master in 2021. Starring Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi, the film went on to become the top-grossing Tamil film of the year. Moreover, Lokesh also made a brief appearance in the film, as seen in this still from Master.

• Lokesh Kanagaraj gained widespread recognition in 2022 for his directorial work on the action-packed thriller movie Vikram, which featured renowned actor Kamal Haasan. The film achieved remarkable success at the box office. Lokesh Kanagaraj was observed on the movie set of Vikram (2022).

• After the theatrical release of the film Master in 2021, Lokesh collaborated with actor Vijay once again in 2023 for his directorial project Leo.

• Lokesh received a luxurious Lexus ES 300h car from Kamal Haasan as a gift, following the tremendous success of the movie Vikram (2022). [3]

• The fusion of Lokesh’s directed Tamil action thriller films led to the creation of Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU), a film franchise. It was his fans who suggested the name “LCU”.

• During an interview, Lokesh discussed his greatest source of inspiration, revealing that Kamal Haasan, the renowned Indian actor, had been one of his favorite performers since childhood. Lokesh credited Haasan for fueling his deep passion for the film industry and motivating him to pursue a career within it. He also shared an interesting anecdote, mentioning how Haasan’s film titled “Vikram” was released in the same year Lokesh was born. This coincidence prompted Lokesh to question his mother as to why she hadn’t named him Vikram, owing to the significant impact Haasan had on his life.

• Lokesh’s Tamil film Kaithi (2019) served as the inspiration for the Bollywood movie Bholla, featuring Ajay Devgan and Tabu in lead roles.

• Lokesh briefly appeared in the Tamil film Singapore Saloon in 2023.