Veteran actor Sanjay Dutt's recent remarks on Lokesh Kanagaraj's Leo caused a flurry of reactions online. During the teaser launch of KD - The Devil in Chennai, he shared that he was "wasted" in Leo as he didn't get a "big role". Now, Lokesh Kanagaraj has addressed the comments and revealed that the actor called him after his comments went viral online.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India ahead of Coolie's release, he said, "He called me immediately after making the statements and said, 'I made a funny comment, but it got awkward after people cut it and shared widely on social media. I didn't mean it' and I said, 'No problem, sir'." He further added, "I am not a genius or the greatest filmmaker in the world who wouldn't do something that may overshadow other characters. I have made many mistakes in my films. It's all a part of the learning process. Probably I'll do one of the best roles with Sanjay Dutt sir to make up for it."
Sanjay Dutt played Leo's father Antony Das in the Vijay-Lokesh Kanagaraj film which was a box office hit. Elsewhere in the interview, Lokesh revealed that Leo collected over Rs 600 crore worldwide. Speaking about box office numbers, the Maanagaram director noted that only the producer, hero and director has to be worried about the collections. "The rest of the technicians have zero concern about this because they will get paid same salary with the other films. Probably, they'd receive a slightly better margin. But for these three people, the salaries will be multiplied depending on how successful the film is. Other than all these people, I don't think people have to be so concerned about the collections."
Released in 2023, Leo, partially inspired by the film A History of Violence, was the third instalment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe. Apart from Vijay and Sanjay Dutt, the action thriller also starred Arjun, Trisha, Gautham Vasudev Menon, Mysskin, Madonna Sebastian, George Maryan, Mansoor Ali Khan, Priya Anand and Mathew Thomas.
