India Today ·
Duniya Vijay the director vs the star: Can City Lights prove he can stand alone?
City Lights marks Duniya Vijay's third outing as director, with Vinay Raj Kumar and Monisha Vijay Kumar leading the cast. The film serves as a test of whether Vijay Kumar's directorial identity can draw audiences without his star presence on screen.
Actor-director Vijay Kumar, better known as Duniya Vijay, is back with his third directorial, City Lights, which is set to release on September 18. The film stars Vinay Raj Kumar and Vijay’s daughter, debutant Monisha Vijay Kumar, and comes with considerable anticipation. In fact, City Lights is among the more anticipated Kannada films of the year, and a large part of that interest comes from the man behind the camera.
Vijay is, of course, a star in his own right. Ever since his debut as a lead actor in Suri’s Duniya in 2007, which earned him the on-screen moniker Duniya Vijay, he has steadily carved a place for himself among Kannada cinema’s leading stars. But his transition from being in front of the camera to stepping behind it offered audiences a different perspective on his craft.