Is Coolie similar to Thalapathi? Lokesh Kanagaraj spills beans on how Rajinikanth reacted after watching it

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2025’s Coolie is generating immense anticipation, with less than a month until its premiere. This highly-anticipated collaboration between Rajinikanth and debutante director Lokesh Kanagaraj is being considered one of Tamil cinema’s most significant box office gambles in 2025. In an exclusive chat with The Hollywood Reporter India, Lokesh Kanagaraj shared insights into his upcoming project and discussed Thalaivar’s reaction upon viewing the initial edit.

Lokesh, the director of Vikram, confessed that among all films starring Rajinikanth, he particularly admires Thalapathi, and he has aimed to recreate a similar balance in his script for Coolie. In simpler terms, he expressed, “For me, Thalapathi is my favorite film featuring Rajini sir, and I’ve strived to create the same kind of equilibrium with this movie – that was my goal while writing Coolie.

Lokesh shared that Rajinikanth (Thalaivar) warmly embraced him following a screening of the film, and he praised Lokesh’s creativity. “After seeing the movie at the dubbing studio, he [Rajinikanth] gave me a hug and said, ‘It felt like Thalapathi to me!’ That was an exceptional moment for me, and that night I had a restful sleep for the first time in months,” Lokesh concluded.

As a devoted admirer, I’ll share my feelings: A young Tamil movie director emphasized that no one surpasses Mani Ratnam in writing, but I felt a glimmer of relief upon receiving a compliment from none other than Rajinikanth himself. In fact, I’ve been telling my friends the same thing! If I ever work with Rajini sir, the film has to resemble Thalapathi in some way. Writing a movie on par with Mani Sir’s mastery is beyond me – his work is simply incomparable. However, a small sense of fulfillment washed over me when we compared my upcoming film to Thalapathi. Hearing the same praise from Rajini sir himself was a significant milestone for me.

Lokesh Kanagaraj reveals he had narrated a fantasy film to Rajinikanth before Coolie

Additionally, Lokesh Kanagaraj disclosed that they had previously discussed a fantasy film with Rajinikanth, and the Superstar promptly agreed. However, since the fantasy film required an additional year and a half for production, they chose to work on Coolie instead. The director emphasized that around 1000 people were involved in the making of Coolie, working day and night. It has been four months since filming began, and he frequently visits the sets of Jailer 2 to spend time with Rajinikanth, as he deeply misses him.

On August 14th, 2025, the eagerly anticipated film Coolie will go head-to-head with War 2 at the box office, featuring stars like Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR, Nagarjuna, Upendra, Soubin Shahir, Shruti Haasan, Sathyaraj, and more. Notably, Aamir Khan will make a special appearance in this movie, while Pooja Hegde is set to perform an exclusive dance number.

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2025-07-14 17:52