Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan Reunion: Could Thalaivar 171 join Lokesh Kanagaraj's cinematic universe?

Sun Pictures made an official announcement on Monday regarding their upcoming project with Superstar Rajinikanth. The film, temporarily titled Thalaivar 171, will be written and directed by filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj.

The common question that seemed to have occurred in everyone's mind is whether Thalaivar 171 is part of the LCU, which is short for Lokesh Cinematic Universe. And it's a very intriguing question, given that if this film comes within the orbit of the LUC, there will be a strong possibility of Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan meeting at some point in time. And if that happens, it will make the dream of millions of fans to see the two icons of Tamil cinema onscreen together after several decades.

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Kamal Haasan and Rajinikanth, the cinematic giants

Kamal was a big star when Rajinikanth entered the Tamil film industry in the early 1970s. And Rajinikanth began his career playing minor roles in movies headlined by Kamal Haasan before progressing to significant supporting and villainous roles, ultimately establishing himself as the quintessential hero of Tamil masala cinema. In their early careers, they appeared together in more than a dozen films but later made a strategic decision to focus on their individual journeys, resulting in their legendary status.

With multi-hero starrer becoming a key element in blockbuster movies to bring the crowds to cinema halls, the time is ripe for a director to make a movie that could accommodate both these movie titans. And Lokesh commands the right set of skills and the market to make this happen.

Lokesh Kanagaraj's cinematic legacy

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So, naturally, everyone is curious to know whether Thalaivar 171 is part of the LCU, which already has Karthi's Kaithi, Kamal's Vikram and possibly Thalapathy Vijay's Leo.

SR Prabhu of Dream Warrior Pictures added to the speculations with his tweet. "Congratulations @Dir_Lokesh Keep rocking with new and exciting worlds!! The universe is with you," he tweeted. As a producer of Kaithi and the upcoming Kaithi 2, was Prabhu hinting that Thalaivar 171 belonged to the same universe as Vikram?

However, there are also reports suggesting that Thalaivar 171 might not be part of Lokesh's movie series. It is rumoured that Rajinikanth personally requested Lokesh to make it a standalone film with no ties to the LCU.

And it's not going to be an easy task getting a definitive answer from Lokesh, who likes to maintain suspense about all his movies. Take, for example, Leo. Lokesh hasn't yet confirmed whether or not Leo is part of the LUC.

So what's your guess?