Actor Vijay on Sunday showered praises on Lokesh Kanagaraj, the director of his upcoming film Master, saying the youngster was someone who did not put in just hard work but also smart work.

Speaking at the audio launch of Master, which was held at the Leela Palace in the presence of select people but which was telecast live by Sun TV, Vijay said, “Director Lokesh is someone who astonishes me. He was working in a bank and then suddenly, he made Maanagaram.  Before making Maanagaram, he had worked on some short films with his friends. So, technically speaking, he hasn’t worked under anybody or hasn’t got any major experience. However, his first film Maanagaram is such a complicated script! Even if there had been a slight lapse at any point, the whole story could have gone for a toss. But he had made it in an impeccable fashion with a limited budget and within the stipulated number of days.  I was really impressed by this feat of his. Therefore, I asked him how he was able to do it. He replied that while making short films, they would do everything from providing tea-coffee to everybody on the sets to everything in the direction department or the camera department.

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Lokesh told me that they would know all the shot divisions and that they would have a plan A and if it did not work, a backup plan B. All of this would be in their minds!”

The actor pulled his director’s leg by talking about how at the beginning of the project, he was startled by Lokesh’s working style.“I have to state this. Lokesh would not have any scene papers at all at the start of the project. In fact, during the first two- three days of Master, I was startled. That was because nobody got scene papers on the sets. Director Lokesh would come and narrate the scene and tell me what I had to say and what the other person in the scene would say. This startled me and I got hassled. I even lost sleep over it for a couple of days, wondering how I was going to manage with this guy for the next three months. Then, I told him to give the screen papers to the entire team and it was only then that, he started sheepishly providing us scene papers,” the actor said,  making the audience roar with laughter.

On a serious note, the actor observered,“ I was in a nice comfort zone with the entire team, including the ADs. The reason why Lokesh has been so successful is because he doesn’t just plan. He masterplans. Just like what the lyrics of my song, ‘Kutti Story’ say, if you do smart work along with hard work, you can win much faster and Lokesh is a fine example of this statement. “