Lokesh Kanagaraj reacts to Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie’s ‘underperformance’: ‘Never said it was a time-travel story; can’t criticise audience expectations’

Despite arriving with massive hype and boasting a cast and crew featuring some of the biggest names in the industry, Lokesh Kanagaraj’s Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie failed to capitalise on the pre-release buzz. This was mainly because the movie failed to impress audiences generally, squashing its hopes of becoming the highest-grossing Tamil film of all time. Although it has emerged as the third highest-grossing Indian film of 2025, the big-budget actioner couldn’t surpass the global haul of even the musical romantic drama Saiyaara, starring two newcomer actors in the lead roles.

Now, director Lokesh Kanagaraj has spoken about Coolie for the first time since its release, reacting to the movie’s underperformance. Mentioning that he made no tall claims regarding the film, Lokesh pointed out that the audience’s excitement for Coolie elevated it to massive heights. He, however, also described the audience’s enthusiasm as the fuel that drives filmmakers to strive for better movies. “I never said anything. But it’s their (the people’s) excitement that brought me here. That’s the case for not just me but all the stars and technicians. Without their enthusiasm, we couldn’t make movies. Hence, I can’t criticise audience expectations,” he shared while taking part in the SSVM Transforming India Conclave 2025 in Coimbatore.

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Lokesh added, “Take Coolie, for instance. I never said it was a time-travel story or that it would be part of the Lokesh Cinematic Universe (LCU). But audiences expected all that. In fact, I didn’t even release a trailer. For 18 months, I kept everything under wraps, as much as I could. Yet, people will continue to have expectations. How can I stop that? Nevertheless, I can never write stories to meet their expectations. I will write a story, and if it clicks, that’s good. If not, I’ll try again.”

Watch Coolie trailer here:

Also starring Nagarjuna Akkineni, Soubin Shahir, Upendra, Shruti Haasan, and Sathyaraj, along with Aamir Khan in a cameo role, Coolie was produced by Kalanithi Maran under the banner of Sun Pictures. Mounted on a reported budget of Rs 350-400 crore, Coolie has grossed Rs 507.75 crore worldwide so far, according to industry tracker Sacnilk. Its domestic nett now stands at Rs 280.58 crore. In the list of the highest-grossing Tamil movies of all time, Coolie is currently trailing behind Jailer (2023), “Thalapathy” Vijay’s Leo (2023), and 2.0 (2018), which minted Rs 604.5 crore, Rs 605.9 crore, and Rs 691 crore, respectively.