The recently released multi-star film VikramName, directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj, sets new records worldwide in terms of box office receipts. It also received rave reviews. Furthermore, it paved the way for the introduction of an entirely new concept – at least for Tamil cinema, if not for the entire Indian film industry – “the cinematic universe”. Thanks to this concept, we can expect more multi-star movies in the future.

The four-movie old Kanagaraj has carved out a place for himself in Kollywood. Except his first film maanagaram (2017), all his other films deal with the narcotics mafia. Using the night as a canvas, he then constructs a parallel universe, where the notions of love, friendship, revenge, etc., take on another hue and he only makes the characters faithful to their own intuition.

This concept of creating universes was first brought to Hollywood by Marvel Comics in 2008. Called the “Marvel Cinematic Universe,” the imaginative universe has more than one superhero united for a cause. So in a movie like The Avengers (2012), one can see superheroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, etc., from different movies sharing equal screen space in one movie without losing their individuality or importance. In fact, the impact of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was such that in 2014 the University of Baltimore introduced a “Media Genres: Media Marvels” course to study the complex world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise.

by Kanagaraj VikramNamelaunched such a possibility for an imaginative and shared universe, where some of the biggest stars of Tamil cinema can come together for a franchise.

Lokesh began to broach the subject of the drug mafia from his second film Kaithi (2019) with Karthi, the younger brother of actor Suriya who also made an appearance in VikramName. The director has woven the script in such a way that the new film is an extension of Kaithi and choosing a famous character agent Vikram from the 1986 Tamil film VikramName (directed by Rajasekar), he created a universe.

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This is the formula for creating a universe: a continuation of a director’s previous film, the retention of the main character(s) from the director’s previous film, the addition of new characters (read superheroes) from other directors, leaving aside the possibilities of prequels or sequels and offering the freedom to introduce new characters or remove old ones.

So somehow the new movie VikramName can be considered as the sequel to Kaithi, in a sense. It can also stand on its own as an entirely new film. Therefore, there is a possibility of Vikram-2 Where Kaithi-2. Since Vikram has Suriya (whose character called Rolex got a huge response), it’s possible audiences could see Karthi and Suriya in what could be Kaithi-2.

But the possibilities don’t stop there. Director Kanagaraj has hired Malayalam actor Fahadh Faasil, as a secret agent inspired by his elder brother Vikram (Kamal Haasan). So there is a possibility for Vikram-2where Fahad can play the lead role as he battles drug lord Rolex.

If Lokesh is ready to pay tribute to another Kamal Haasan fan boy, he can still keep Agent Vikram either in Vikram-2 or in Kaithi-2with Karthi, Fahadh Faasil and Suriya.

There are more possibilities. Kanagaraj also focuses on minor characters like the character Anbu (played by Arjun Das) in VikramNamewhich was seen earlier in Kaithi, as one of the henchmen with the same screen name. He was also seen in the director’s third adventure Master (2021) with Vijay. Kanagaraj can produce a new script from Anbu’s point and if Vijay can be included (remember Vijay played an undercover cop in the 2007 movie Pokkiri)there is a possibility for Master-2.

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As of now, Lokesh once tweeted that Dilli (played by Karthi in KaithI’ll be back. Also, based on tweets from Kamal Haasan and Suriya, it is expected that the star cast will be able to join hands again. So in a few months or years we can expect either Kaithi-2 Where Vikram-2.

However, for Tamil cinema, has seen successful sequels like the singam director Hari’s franchise, starring Suriya as a police officer, the Tamil film’s prequels fell short. Director Chakri Toleti tried Billa-2, with Ajith Kumar who played the gift Billa. The film attempted to show how the underworld don Billa was born and thus became the prequel to billa (2007). But the film bombed the box office.

Interestingly, the 1980 film billa starring Rajinikanth, was a Hindi film remake put on (1978) with Amitabh Bachchan. It’s a movie that’s been remade, dubbed and rebooted (same story with another actor and directed by another filmmaker in another era like put on (2006) with Shah Rukh Khan and billa and Billa-2 with Ajithkumar), in many languages, more than once.

In a manner, billa had and still has possibilities to create and continue the cinematic universe. Who knows, if another director is inspired by it VikramName (2022) or if Kanagaraj himself chooses to expand his universe, even Billa-3 Could happen. And if Rajinikanth comes forward to share the screen with young actors like Kamal Haasan did, the Tamil film industry may have the opportunity to make a film like Avengers: Endgame (2019). At this point, it will not just be pan-India, but pan-world.

Talk to The FederalSingara Velan, a screenwriter, said that previously, for a Tamil film to qualify as a pan-Indian film, Bollywood heroes had to act as villains, as was done in Shankar. 2.O (2018). Akshay Kumar had taken on the role of the negative character. “But now VikramName has opened the doors where Tamil heroes will turn into villains in other hero movies. It will open up a bigger market,” he said.

Emphasizing that VikramName will set a standard for the release of more multi-star films, Velan added, “What VikramName has been phenomenal. Through his films, Lokesh has created his own narcotic universe. In a way, Prashanth Neel has also created his own KGF universe. Instead of waiting for sequels, where the same actors will play their roles, this “cinematic universe” should be put forward.