Actor Nivin Pauly has openly called out the makers of Benz, the upcoming Lokesh Cinematic Universe film, over repeated delays in the shooting schedule.

In an interview with Rekha Menon, the Bethlehem Kudumba Unit star said he has been contractually bound to maintain his character’s appearance for over a year, preventing him from changing his look for other projects, while the Benz team has repeatedly postponed his remaining schedule without resolution.

When the host pointed out that Nivin Pauly had maintained the same look across his last few films and asked whether it was a deliberate “Nivin Pauly factor,” the actor was blunt. “It’s not like that. I can’t change my look due to my commitment to Benz, the Tamil film. There was a proper agreement for it that I had to maintain my appearance. We began shooting for it last year, and it keeps getting postponed,” he said.

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Nivin plays Walter, a dark, ruthless antagonist also referred to as “Twin Fish Walter,” in Benz, his first full-fledged villain role in Tamil cinema. He completed his first schedule of shooting in November 2025 and revealed in January 2026 that a 35-day schedule was still pending. As of this interview, nearly eight months later, that schedule remains incomplete.

The frustration was visible when the host noted that Nivin Pauly had released multiple Malayalam films in the meantime, two of which became hits, all while being locked into the same look. “Now, for Bethlehem Kudumba Unit and another recently launched film, I couldn’t change my look because I still have 30 to 35 days of shooting left,” he said, adding, “Nothing seems to be moving. I’m tired of calling them about this.”

He then addressed the Benz team. “Guys, at least after watching this interview, please make a decision and complete the film,” he said.

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What is Benz?

Benz is an upcoming Tamil action thriller directed by Bakkiyaraj Kannan, who co-wrote the screenplay with Lokesh Kanagaraj. It is the fourth instalment in the Lokesh Cinematic Universe and the first LCU film not directed by Lokesh himself. The film stars Raghava Lawrence in the title role, with Nivin Pauly, R Madhavan and Samyuktha Menon in key roles. Karthi is expected to reprise his Kaithi character Dilli in a crossover capacity, though the extent of his involvement has not been officially confirmed.

The project was first announced in April 2024, with its inclusion in the LCU confirmed in October that year. Principal photography began in May 2025. Two schedules were completed by mid-2025, with Nivin wrapping his first portion in November 2025. Since then, the production has been irregular, with no clear communication to the cast about when filming will resume.

However, with Lokesh Kanagaraj now occupied with his acting career following DC’s success and his upcoming directorial with Allu Arjun (AA23), industry observers have raised questions about how much creative bandwidth he has left to oversee the Lokesh Cinematic Universe.