Lokesh Kanagaraj and Rathna Kumar visit Sabarimala temple ahead of Rajinikanth's Coolie shoot. See pics

Director Rathna Kumar took to X (formerly Twitter) to share pictures with Lokesh Kanagaraj and their ‘gangster squad’.

Director Lokesh Kanagaraj embarked on a spiritual trip to Sabarimala ahead of shooting for his next film Coolie with Rajinikanth. The director was accompanied by writer-filmmaker Rathna Kumar, apart from a couple of friends. Rathna took to X (formerly Twitter) to share pictures of their trip. (Also Read: Ilaiyaraaja fights for rights of his music being used for Rajinikanth-starrer Coolie, but what do copyright laws say?)

Lokesh Kanagaraj with his friends in Sabarimala.

Lokesh’s trip to Sabarimala

Rathna, who co-wrote Vijay’s Leo and Coolie, apart from being known for helming films like Amala Paul’s Aadai and Santhanam’s Gulu Gulu, took to X to share pictures with Lokesh and their other friends. All of them can be seen dressed in a black shirt and mundu, wearing the mala. “With the Gangster Squad,” wrote the director, sharing the pictures. In the pictures, the friends can be seen all smiles as they pose for selfies near the temple. One of the pictures also sees them out of their mala.

About Coolie

After returning to Chennai, Lokesh will shoot for Rajinikanth’s Coolie, which is the actor’s 171st film. Produced by Sun Pictures, nothing much is known about the actor’s role, though he’s rumoured to play a gangster. Anirudh Ravichander is composing the film’s music, and it’s slated to be released in 2025. The rest of the cast and crew are also yet to be revealed.

Recently, the filmmaker released an announcement video that ran into controversy for using an old song of Rajinikanth’s composed by Ilaiyaraaja. The music composer sent the makers a legal notice for using the number without his permission. Rajinikanth distanced himself from the issue, stating that it’s been the musician and the producers.

Upcoming work

Lokesh already has projects lined up for the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, consisting of Kaithi, Vikram and Leo. He will work with Karthi again for Kaithi 2, taking Dilli’s story forward. He will also work on a stand-alone film with Suriya for his character Rolex. It’s also expected that he’ll take the story of Vikram forward with a sequel.