Pepe’s Vinay Rajkumar on how he overcame his reservations about violence in films

Vinay Rajkumar’s departure from the romantic drama genre comes in the form of Pepe, his next theatrical release, which will be out on August 30. The film’s got an A censor certificate for its depiction of violence, among others, something that Vinay had been reluctant to be a part of earlier. With Pepe, he takes on a massy, ‘commercial cinema’ avatar, which he’d distanced himself from in the past. Why then, did he take up the Shreelesh S Nair directorial?

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Vinay Rajkumar: Pepe does not have mindless violence; it's justified

During an X space session, the actor hosted as part of the promotions of Pepe, he spoke about having been confused about whether to do or not to do a film with violence. “When Pepe came to me, I was intrigued, because I’d not done a character like that. Despite my reservations about violence in cinema, the reason I went ahead and did Pepe is because it is not mindless violence. This violence is justified, but what’s important to note is that along with it, we have also presented a few serious subjects. Pepe is not a film that runs completely on violence; in fact, the bloodshed or fights you see is only a small part of a larger narrative,” Vinay explains.

The actor adds that what also appealed to him was that he’d not had the kind of experience he got on the set of Pepe on any other film so far. “When you watch Pepe, you will be engulfed by a silence and will have multiple questions and thoughts when you emerge from the movie hall. Pepe will stay with audiences much after they leave theatres and there will be discussions around what has been said,” says the actor.

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Elaborating further, Vinay said that there are instances in Pepe that have been recreated as raw as possible, without any attempt to sugar coat it. There’s also no attempt to take a stand as to what is right or wrong. That, he says, is up to the audience to decide. “We’ve touched upon caste issues, the pressure to preserve the dignity of a family and the extent to which people will go to maintain it, among others. There’s also an attempt to present a female perspective, which is still coming from a male filmmaker, but we’ve tried,” he says.