Petition Against Lokesh Kanagaraj Over Leo Content, Seeks ‘Psychological Evaluation’

Leo director Lokesh Kanagaraj is facing legal trouble after a petition has been filed against him in the Madurai bench of the High Court. Raju Murugan has filed a petition from Madurai requesting a psychological evaluation of the ace director and seeking to ban his movie Leo due to violence. The petitioner also added that his movie is also inciting violence. Lokesh Kanagaraj delivered the movie Leo in 2023 featuring Thalapathy Vijay which emerged to be a blockbuster hit at the theatres. The director has been facing negativity for portraying violence in his cinematic universe called Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU) which includes Vikram, Leo and Kaithi. Leo also faced criticism for glorifying smoking and violence. On January 3, Raju Murugan filed a petition demanding a psychological evaluation of Lokesh Kanagaraj.

The petition argues that Leo features various scenes that promote violence which includes the use of weapons, religious symbols, drug usage and violence against children and women. The complaint also accused Lokesh Kanagaraj of portraying riots, illegal activities and drug trafficking and promoting the idea that almost any crime is possible with the assistance of the police.

The petition contended that such kinds of movies should be reviewed by the Censor Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and they should be more vigilant while issuing a censor certificate to movies. Hence, he urged that the director should take a psychological evaluation and further asked the court to put a complete ban on Leo under the Indian criminal law. The case was heard by Justices Krishna Kumar and Vijay Kumar but was adjourned as the lawyer for the petitioner failed to appear at the court.

Leo marked the second collaboration of director Lokesh Kanagaraj with actor Thalapathy Vijay after Master. The action-packed thriller also features other actors like Trisha, Sanjay Dutt, Arjun Sarja, Mysskin, Sandy and Gautham Menon in pivotal roles. After the trailer of the movie was released, many wondered why the director glorified violence. Even his past movies like Kaithi and Vikram showed a lot of violence. In an interview with Galatta Plus, Lokesh Kanagaraj revealed that it is “fun”. He stated that his movies are made for the purpose of entertainment and he glorified violence because it is not something that will happen in real life. He adds music and exaggerates it for entertainment.