Leo (2024) Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Leo is an upcoming Indian Tamil-language action thriller film[2] directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, who co-wrote it with Rathna Kumar and Deeraj Vaidy. It is the third film in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, and is produced by S. S. Lalit Kumar of Seven Screen Studio while Jagadish Palanisamy serves as co-producer. The film stars Vijay as the titular character, and Trisha, alongside Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mansoor Ali Khan and Mysskin.

The film was officially announced in January 2023 under the tentative title Thalapathy 67, as it is Vijay's 67th film as a lead actor, and the title of the film was announced a few days later. Principal photography commenced the same month in Chennai along with a sporadic schedule in Kashmir, which was again followed by another schedule held at the former location, and wrapped by mid-July. The film has music composed by Anirudh Ravichander, cinematography handled by Manoj Paramahamsa and editing by Philomin Raj.

Leo is scheduled to be released in theatres worldwide on 19 October 2023 in standard, and IMAX formats.

Synopsis
Parthiban "Parthi" is a chocolatier based in Kashmir, who lives a happy life with his family, until one day, he starts getting targeted by the notorious gangster brothers, Anthony Das and Harold Das, as they suspect Parthi to be their estranged younger brother, Leo Das.[3]

Cast
Vijay as Leo Das / Parthiban “Parthi”[4]
Trisha as Parthi's wife (voice dubbed by Chinmayi)
Sanjay Dutt as Antony Das[5]
Arjun as Harold Das[6]
Gautham Vasudev Menon as a police officer
Mansoor Ali Khan
Mysskin
Mathew Thomas
Priya Anand
Sandy Master
Babu Antony
Manobala
George Maryan
Abhirami Venkatachalam
Jaffer Sadiq[7]
Iyal[8]
Vasanthi[9]
Maya S. Krishnan[10]
Santhi Mayadevi[11]
Denzil Smith[12]
Madonna Sebastian[13]
Anurag Kashyap[14]
Ramakrishnan[15]
Kiran Rathod[16]
Sachin Mani[17]
Production
Development

Leo is the second collaboration of Vijay with Lokesh Kanagaraj after Master (2021).
After the success of Master in early 2021, it was reported that Lokesh Kanagaraj visited Vijay at his residence and narrated a script which impressed him. The project was supposed to be the actor's 66th film as a leading actor; however, that position instead went to Varisu (2023).[18] Reports of a potential collaboration between Lokesh and Vijay continued through February 2022.[19][20] The following March, Lokesh confirmed there were discussions for him to direct Vijay's 67th film.[21] That May, he confirmed the project, tentatively titled Thalapathy 67.[22] The project was funded by S. S. Lalit Kumar's Seven Screen Studio, which had distributed and co-produced Master,[23] while Vijay's manager Jagadish serves as a co-producer. The company made a public announcement on 30 January 2023, confirming the project,[24] and the film's official title Leo was revealed on 3 February 2023.[25]

The film is being made on a budget of ₹250–300 crore, and Vijay was reported to receive ₹120 crore (US$15 million) as remuneration.[1] However, he reportedly decided to take the revenue sharing model, to benefit the film's production; as per the basis, he would receive ₹50 crore (US$6.3 million) as an advance, and a chunk of the profits would be received as the actor's remuneration.[26] Vijay was not in favour of making Leo a pan-Indian film as he wanted to focus on satisfying the Tamil audience. The actor, however, changed his mind after Lalit and Jagadish convinced him. Some changes were also made to the original story to help the film cater to a wider audience.[27][28] In August 2023, the film was confirmed to be part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe as the makers of this film had signed a no objection certificate with the makers of the franchise's previous films.[29]

Pre-production
It took Lokesh nearly six months for the writing and pre-production.[30] Lokesh co-wrote the film's script along with Rathna Kumar, in his third consecutive collaboration with the director,[31][32] and Deeraj Vaidy, director of Jil Jung Juk (2016). Both of them joined the writing team in mid August 2022.[33] Lokesh said the film would be completely made in his style, unlike Master which he considered a 50% Vijay film and 50% his film.[30] A muhurat puja was held on 5 December 2022 at AVM Studios in Chennai with the film's cast and crew.[34] On 7 December, the team shot the promotional video for the film for nearly three days.[35]

In mid-January 2023, Manoj Paramahamsa was announced as cinematographer, marking his first collaboration with Lokesh and third with Vijay after Nanban (2012) and Beast (2022).[36] Anirudh Ravichander would score the music, in his third consecutive film with the director.[37] Lokesh further retained most of his norm technicians including editor Philomin Raj, stunt choreography duo Anbariv, dance choreographer Dinesh Kumar and art director N. Sathees Kumar.[38] Praveen Raja would style the costumes for Vijay, along with his regular costume designers Pallavi Singh and Eka Lakhani.[39][40] Ramkumar Balasubramanian was appointed as executive producer of the film by the production house.[41]