'Thalapathy' Vijay's Leo is all set for a massive opening in theatres worldwide starting October 19 and the excitement for the upcoming action film directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj is at an unprecedented high. Leo is Lokesh's second outing with Vijay after their Master (2021), and the hit filmmaker has now opened up on several highlights in the highly-anticipated gangster drama, including the much-talked-about hyena sequence and the car chase scene. Speaking about the making of the highly-anticipated sequences in Leo with National Award-winning film critic Baradwaj Rangan, the Editor-in-Chief of Galatta Plus, Lokesh Kanagaraj provided an insight into the extent to which the team went in coming up with the final output.
Talking about the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in Leo, Lokesh Kanagaraj said, "The basic thing is the theatre experience and that is the reason why I've said I won't do any content for OTT now. I want to make the audience feel the experience in the theatres. It came down to what more the audience can experience beyond action. I never laid my belief in CG for my films. I'm always completely against shooting in green matte and blue matte studio setups because I won't get into the mood to film anything under such a setup. But, with Leo, I just wanted to try out a lot with CG and began working on it last October even though we were going to start production only in January this year. So, the CG work for this film began last October and the team delivered the final output this October. I gave them 12 months and you witnessed a part of that output in the hyena sequence in the trailer."
Lokesh Kanagaraj further went on to speak about a car chase sequence in Leo describing it to have not been done before in Indian cinema, while showering praise on cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa and stunt choreographer duo Anbariv masters. He said, "When it comes to shooting action, we have lots to explore. Both Manoj Paramahamsa and Anbariv masters allow you to do whatever you want to do because they are working on something that they don't always get to do. As far as I know, I don't think any company has the number of camera rigs as Manoj sir. If I say I want an output in a specific manner, he will make it happen somehow. In fact, his company did the pre-visualization for the hyena sequence in Leo. So, it was extremely easy to work and he also did the pre-visualization for the car chase sequence too. More than just a cameraman, he himself is like a super-techie when it comes to CG."
Explaining pre-visualization, Lokesh Kanagaraj said, "It's a depiction of what we want to see and an understanding that the people in the technical department in a film are on the same page. It is actually an animation film. In storyboards, you basically have clip artwork, but in pre-viz, you'll have proper animation with a proper background and all the effects. You can literally see when a specific car will blast in an action sequence and which car will spin where when toppled. Be it the cameraman, stunt directors, myself, and the CG technicians, we see that we are all on the same page and then head for the shooting in order to avoid any confusion during filming. In fact, there will be a huge war if what we planned in the pre-viz doesn't come to fruition during the shooting. And, in this film, a lot of that happened. There were times when all of us technicians were in the same room and held serious discussions because we wanted to match the output with the pre-viz. I never tried CG before and this is the first time. I think it has come out wonderfully."
Watch Lokesh Kanagaraj in conversation with Baradwaj Rangan in the video below:
