Lokesh Kanagaraj collaborated with Vijay in the film ‘Master’ in 2021, which became a commercial success. Another collaboration of the duo was announced in January 2023, and their fans have been eagerly waiting for the film or at least the trailer.
Leo’s film trailer was released on 05 October 2023 across multiple languages and got over 47 million views. It became the most-watched Tamil trailer within twenty-four hours. It is the fastest film trailer to get one million likes in 21 minutes and 3.7 million likes in 24 hours.
Leo, initially called Thalapathy 67, is Vijay’s sixty-seventh movie as a leading actor. He was impressed by the script when the director approached him at his residence. Meanwhile, Vijay’s manager serves as the co-producer.
The movie is about a chocolatier named Pratibhan “Parthi,” who comes under the sights of the criminals Harold Das and Anthony, who think he is their abandoned younger brother, Leo Das.
Leo Trailer Controversy
Leo Trailer is a high-quality production that includes violence, VFX, stunts, and a cuss word uttered by Vijay during a monologue said by Vijay. Fans got offended and found it unsuitable for kids.
CBFC made over thirteen minor changes in the trailer during a special screening, which did not affect the runtime. They muted the cuss word and gave it a U/A certificate last week. Changes related to blood and gore were also made. Still, some Tamil Nadu theaters showed the uncensored version, where the cuss word was not muted.
These theatres did not follow the Cinematography Act and screened uncertified content publicly. Thus, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) asked the theatres to report uncertified content’s source before 11 October 2023.
Meanwhile, CBFC Chennai sent a legal notice to the theatres asking them to delicately communicate with the office that provided them with uncertified content and prove why CBFC must not take action against them (the theatres).
The theatres committed a serious non-compoundable criminal offense by screening uncertified content. Amid the controversy, the director, Lokesh Kanagaraj, announced himself responsible for putting a cuss word in the trailer. He admitted that the movie will be a director’s cut, meaning it will be according to his vision.
So, slamming the actor Vijay is of no use. In an interview, the director also mentioned that he intentionally did not put the cuss word in the trailer. He added the word to maintain the flow of the character’s emotions. According to him, Vijay asked him if it was fine to use the word before filming, and he (the director) decided to take the blame if it offended someone.
Unsurprisingly, Vijay plays the main character, Parthi, and Sanjay Dutt plays the main antagonist. Trisha Krishnan plays the female lead. Vijay and Trisha got paired for four movies before Leo. Besides that, Arjun Sarja and Priya Anand will appear in important roles.
Glorification Of Drugs And Violence
Leo’s audio launch was canceled, and the movie was criticized for glorifying drugs. Vijay did not face the backlash for the first time. His film, Thalaiva, had faced criticism from religious and political outfits. Another actor, Kamal Haasan, faced it while working for Virumaandi and Viswaroopam.
Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj responded to the controversy about glorifying drugs, saying that his movies do not glorify drugs because he is ashamed of doing that. Instead, his heroes fight for a drug-free society and show what drugs are at the end of his movies.
Leo Trailer depicts the serial killer standing in the middle of the road, firing blindly. People run for their lives, but the firing results in a pile of corpses. He kills anyone coming in his way. Meanwhile, a brave police officer reloads the gun and kills the serial killer.
According to the trailer, Parthi (Played by Vijay) goes against a well-established gang of criminals while he and his close ones pay for it. We may watch the trailer using regional subtitles, though the audio is in Tamil. It has better VFX and a lot of action, stunts, and violence.
So, talking about violence, the director said that his movies are based on the action genre accepted worldwide rather than violence. His movies only depict action heroes, and he does not think of criticism after that.
