Vignesh Raja on Dhanush, Kara, and the Second-Film Pressure

Director Vignesh Raja joins Vishal Menon for an InFocus conversation about Kara, his highly anticipated follow-up to the acclaimed 2023 Tamil crime thriller Por Thozhil, starring Dhanush in a role set against the backdrop of the 1991 Gulf War. Vignesh opens up about the emotional weight of Dhanush's viral "genius" tweet, the creative pressure of delivering a second hit, and how he and co-writer Alfred Prakash shaped the story of a former robber forced back into crime to protect his family — debating every idea, writing through the night at a 24-hour coffee shop in Vepery, and locking themselves away in 14-day drafting sessions to get it right. The conversation covers the exact moment during the writing of Por Thozhil when Vignesh first knew he was built to direct, the challenge of guiding a star with a filmography as rich as Dhanush's — spanning 3, Mayakkam Enna, Polladhavan, Maari, and Naane Varuvean — and why the emotionally charged scenes in Kara forced him to loosen his instinctive storyboarding style. He also reveals how a production gap led him to develop a racing film set in Irudhaya, only to abandon the project after watching F1, and recalls one unplanned rainy-day scene on the Kara set that left a lasting impression. A candid, craft-focused dialogue about collaboration, trust, and what it really takes to navigate the second-film curve in Tamil cinema. #VigneshRaja #Dhanush #Kara #TamilCinema #PorThozhil #Lykstage #LykstageVideo #LykstageCreator #LykstageCommunity