Filmmaker Lokesh Kanagaraj has broken his silence on the sustained online trolling campaign he has faced over the past year, admitting that his previous two directorial outings Leo and Coolie fell short while expressing confidence that his next film with Allu Arjun will change the conversation.

When a DC co-star asked him how he handles the trolls during a promotional interaction for the film, Lokesh did not get defensive. He laughed and said, “Even my mother sends me screenshots of the trolling. What’s there to get tensed about?”

The filmmaker then addressed the root cause directly. “If our work is good, they’ll celebrate us. But if there’s a mistake, we’ll become target of trolls. My previous two films, Leo and Coolie, had some mistakes, and that’s how things turned out. So, they’re trolling me now,” he said.

Lokesh Kanagaraj has rarely acknowledged publicly that Leo and Coolie fell short of expectations. However, despite the disappointment, both films made money at the box office. Leo, starring Vijay, collected Rs 605 crore worldwide, and Coolie, starring Rajinikanth, opened to strong numbers. But neither delivered on the creative promise that Kaithi and Vikram had set. Leo was widely criticised for weak villains, a flat climax and a screenplay that prioritised cameos and universe-building over storytelling. Coolie drew criticism for poor execution and concepts that did not connect with audiences the way Lokesh’s earlier work had.

Despite the commercial returns, the creative disappointment triggered a backlash that has been running for months on Tamil social media. Morphed images, satirical memes, WhatsApp stickers and posts mocking Lokesh became a daily feature across platforms. The trolling intensified further after the announcement of AA23, his next directorial with Allu Arjun. A section of Tamil social media users viewed the decision to work with a Telugu star as a betrayal, particularly when Lokesh had repeatedly promised sequels to Kaithi and Vikram as part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe.

Lokesh Kanagaraj, however, sounded confident about what lies ahead. “I’m doing AA23 with Allu Arjun, and I have confidence in it. When the film releases, the trolls will automatically stop,” he said. Fans believe tha DC, directed by Arun Matheswaran, appears to have given Lokesh breathing room after months of negativity.

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AA23, which marks the first collaboration between Lokesh Kanagaraj and Allu Arjun, is expected to go on floors after Arjun completes his current project with director Atlee.

In a separate interview in July, Lokesh Kanagaraj also addressed the LCU question, saying he plans to return to the Kaithi and Vikram sequels after completing AA23, and that the film Benz, currently being produced under his banner, is also part of the LCU. That statement drew mixed reactions, with many pointing out he has made similar promises before only to take on another star-driven project instead.