Lokesh Kanagaraj is now hailed by the trade circles as the number one director of Kollywood. So far all four of his films have been hits. Especially Karthi's 'Kaithi' and Thalapathy Vijay's 'Master' reportedly brough in rupees hundred and two hundred crores collection respectively and Kamal Haasan's Vikram is said to have crossed the Rs 400 crores mark.

Lokesh is currently directing Thalapathy Vijay's 'Leo' which again is one of the most hyped films in pan Indian cinema. Industry insiders believe that the constant hit filmmaker's career will see an even higher upward trend after its release on October 19th.

Lokesh Kanagaraj after completing 'Leo' already has previous commitments to direct Karthi's 'Kaithi 2' and Kamal's 'Vikram 3' apart from a Telugu project with a major hero. However all that seems to have been put on hold after Superstar Rajinikanth expressed his wish to act in Lokesh's direction.

The Rajini-Lokesh project which is likely to be 'Thalaviar 171' was initially said to be produced by Kamal Haasan's RKFI but since that several other production houses have entered the competition namely Sun Pictures, Hombale Films, Seven Screen Studios, Mythri Movie Makers and Sri Venkateswara Creations.

Meanwhile, Lokesh Kanagaraj, has also signed on to play one of the heroes in a new mega project that marks the directorial debut of popular stunt choreographers Anbariv. Numero uno music composer Anirudh Ravichander will also be making his acting debut as the main hero in this film.

It is now being reported that Sun Pictures which is bankrolling the Lokesh-Anirudh-Anbariv project has paid the staggering sum of rupees ten crores as salary for Lokesh. If this turns out to be true then it will be the highest amount ever paid in Indian cinema for a debut actor.

The same sources opine that Sun Pictures have offerred rupees forty crores to Lokesh Kanagaraj to direct Rajinikanth in 'Thalaivar 171' and are negotiating it as a package deal of Rs. 50 Crores for both the projects. We will have to wait and watch for the official word to confirm if these bits of info are true or just mere speculation.