Vijay Kumar: City Lights is about innocent souls swallowed by Bengaluru

Filmmaker Vijay Kumar talks at length about City Lights, exposing Majestic’s predatory margins, directing daughter Monisha, teaming with Vinay Rajkumar, and more

Director Vijay Kumar (left) and a still from City Lights 

Vijay Kumar’s cinema has never averted its gaze from blood, grime, or Bengaluru’s margins. Following Salaga and Bheema, his third directorial venture, City Lights, explores fragile territory: innocent love colliding with an unforgiving metropolis. In a candid conversation, ahead of the film's release on September 18, the filmmakers gets candid about mapping Majestic’s raw underbelly, directing his daughter Monisha, and his creative bond with Vinay Rajkumar. Weighing in on the pan-India debate, he discusses craft and social accountability over sanitised 'A' certificate cinema.

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