Kaithi, Vikram and Leo: Links in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe

In Leo, Vijay plays Parthiban, a cafe owner in Himachal Pradesh who shoots to fame after he kills a gang that threatens his employee and daughter. (Screen grab)

After months of speculation about whether Vijay’s action thriller Leo (2023) is part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU), fans finally found the answer on October 19. It is indeed! Directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, Leo is the third film to be part of the LCU, following Kaithi (2019) and Vikram (2022). While there are several cinematic universes in Hollywood, they’re less common in Indian cinema – a few examples other than the LCU include the YRF (Yash Raj Films) spy universe and the Maddock Supernatural Universe.

What sets apart a cinematic universe from a sequel is that it’s possible for different characters to populate the films, and the story needn’t have direct connections always. The characters from the cinematic universe are connected by thematic ideas and may occasionally meet each other. This means that the main character in one film may only play a cameo role in another or not meet at all. For example, Salman Khan who played the role of RAW agent Tiger in Ek Tha Tiger (2012) and Tiger Zinda Hai (2017), made a surprise cameo in Shah Rukh Khan’s blockbuster action thriller Pathaan (2023) as the same character. All three films are part of the YRF spy universe.

When Kanagaraj made Kaithi, it was not planned as a film that would begin a cinematic universe. The film is about Dilli (Karthi), a fresh from jail ex-convict who is reluctantly pulled into a drug bust. Kaithi was a nail-biting action thriller inspired by Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), and it went on to become a blockbuster. Actor George Maryan played a key role in the film as Constable Napoleon. The ending of the film suggested a sequel, with the chief antagonist, Adaikalam (Harish Uthaman), saying that Dilli was involved in the drug bust by design and not by chance. At the time, Kanagaraj had stated that he had plans to make a prequel and sequel for Kaithi, but his next release happened to be Vikram (2022) with Kamal Haasan.

Before Vikram released, Kanagaraj asked fans to watch Kaithi before they went to theatres, and this was a hint that something big was brewing. Produced by Raj Kamal Films (owned by Kamal Haasan), Vikram was about a vigilante squad that takes on the drug mafia, with some of the characters from Kaithi making an appearance in the film as well. Among them is Inspector Bejoy (Narain), a cop who played a pivotal role in Kaithi – he is the one who forces Dilli to be part of the drug operation. In Vikram, he is part of the vigilante squad headed by Vikram (Kamal Haasan), and he makes this move after his family is tortured to death.

Kaithi’s drug mafia brothers – Adaikalam and Anbu (Arjun Das) – also appeared in Vikram towards the end. Here, they are known as Adaikalam Das and Anbu Das, and the kingpin of the trade, Rolex (Suriya), announces a bounty on all those who have ruined the trade. We don’t see Dilli, but we learn that he’s hiding somewhere in a village in Uttar Pradesh.

So, where does Leo fit into this cinematic universe? Leo, inspired by A History of Violence (2005), is about a seemingly peaceful man with a violent past. Parthiban (Vijay) runs a cafe in a Himachal Pradesh town, and he shoots to fame after he kills a gang that threatens his employee and daughter. His face is splashed in the media, and this brings back ghosts from his past – Antony Das (Sanjay Dutt) and Harold Das (Arjun Sarja) – who insist that he is their family member, Leo Das, who supposedly died in a fire. Parthiban denies that he is Leo, but there are enough signs of his propensity towards violence to suggest otherwise.

In A History of Violence, the protagonist is targeted by his brother who is still in the mafia, and wants him dead to prove his allegiance to the gang. In Leo, the motive isn’t as straightforward. Leo rebelled against the family and burnt down their factory after his superstitious father performed a terrible deed towards a loved one. The men want to hunt him down as revenge, and perhaps also to turn their luck in the trade.

The ‘Das’ family name suggests that Adaikalam and Anbu Das from Kaithi and Vikram are also related to Leo, though they don’t appear in the film. Leo is Antony Das’s son, so it’s possible that Adaikalam and Anbu are his uncle Harold’s sons. At the end of the film, Parthiban/Leo receives a call from Vikram of Vikram, inviting him to join their squad against the drug mafia.

The LCU connections in Leo aren’t as organic as the links between Kaithi and Vikram. For one, Leo doesn’t burn down the factory or kill his family members because he’s against the drug trade. In fact, he was a happy beneficiary of the business and was running the trade himself. The terrible deed committed by his father isn’t really related to drugs either – such stories revolving around faith in black magic can be found even among ordinary people with no history of drug use. Bejoy of Kaithi had a strong reason to join the squad, as did Amar (Fahadh Faasil) of Vikram who starts off as someone who is hunting Vikram but ends up joining him after his girlfriend is killed by the mafia. Leo has no such ideological motive.

Two characters from Kaithi and Vikram who appear in Leo are constable Napoleon and a sex worker (Maya S. Krishnan), respectively. Napoleon is posted as security for Parthiban’s family after the incident at the cafe. The sex worker in Vikram was a part of the elaborate cover designed by Vikram to project himself as someone he isn’t – so, he would visit her to suggest that he was a man of loose morals, but instead of having sex, he would be working on his mission. In Vikram, the young woman has no clue why the elderly man visiting her was doing this – but in Leo, it is suggested that she is now part of Vikram’s team and she vets Parthiban/Leo in his cafe. That’s quite a leap to take.

Before Leo released, a lot of people thought that actor Sandy, who appeared in the trailer, was playing a younger version of Rolex from Vikram. The similarity in their facial expressions gave rise to this theory, but Sandy merely plays a minor villain in Leo.

Vijay’s strong fanbase may have ensured that Leo hit the jackpot at the box office, but of the three films in the LCU so far, Leo is the weakest. This is because none of the characters has strong motives, and the villains are easily defeated despite their supposedly demonic personalities. With the audience becoming choosy about which films they’ll watch in theatres and which ones they’ll watch on OTT, multi-starrers or at least films with star cameos are becoming more common across industries. The Lokesh Cinematic Universe has tremendous potential to give the audience exciting combinations on screen. But the director needs to focus on the writing more if these films are to become truly memorable. Otherwise, the LCU can turn into a sad gimmick and let the fans down.