Vijay's Jana Nayagan film release further delayed; legal battle continues

Indian actor-politician Vijay's final movie Jana Nayagan, which was originally targeted for release on Friday, (9th Jan), continues to be embroiled in a legal battle to obtain a certification from the Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC). The Madras High Court will next hear this case on 21st January. This big-budget film's original release was planned for January 9th, so that it could hit the screens ahead of the Pongal festival in Tamil Nadu next week.

This morning, based on arguments made over the last few days, a single-judge bench of the Madras High Court ordered the CBFC to grant the certification. However, the CBFC immediately represented this matter before the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court, requesting more time to respond.

On Friday evening, a two-judge bench of the Madras High Court stayed the single-judge bench order. It remains to be seen if the producers will approach the Supreme Court, seeking urgent relief in this matter.

What is Jana Nayagan about?

Jana Nayagan(which means People's Hero in Tamil) is the final cinematic venture of Indian Actor-politician Vijay. Expectations have been sky high, given that Vijay, among India's highest-paid actors, would be bidding adieu to his four-decade-long film career to pursue a political career after this film. Vijay's TVK party is contesting the Tamil Nadu polls that are barely 4 months away.

Jana Nayagan vs CBFC: How did the matter reach the Court?

The delay in the film's release is due to the non-issuance of the CBFC Certificate and related hurdles. The CBFC certificate is a mandatory requirement for a film's release.
Earlier this week, the film's producer, KVN Productions, approached the court alleging that the movie's certification is being unreasonably withheld and delayed. It was mentioned that these delays would cause massive financial loss to the producers who invested Rs 500cr($55.6mn).

According to the production firm, they had applied for the CBFC Certificate on 18th December, following which they were informed by the Censor Board (CBFC) that the film would get a 16+ age rating, owing to violent content. Further, certain scenes were also asked to be trimmed out.

The producer says that the trimmed version was submitted for certification on December 29th, but the certifying body CBFC had reverted this Monday, Jan 5th, citing further hurdles.

The film certifying body CBFC maintains that Jana Nayagan would have to be reviewed by a larger committee. This is owing to a complaint by a certifying official from their team, regarding some objectionable content in the film. The issue is said to be with scenes depicting the armed forces and content that could hurt religious sentiments. The censor board wants the film to be viewed and certified by a larger committee, a process that could take several days, if not weeks.

Makers of Jana Nayagan indefinitely postponed the film's release

Considering the ongoing legal battle and the likelihood of the matter getting escalated, KVN Productions announced on Wednesday, 7th Jan, that the film's release, originally scheduled for Friday, 9th Jan, has been indefinitely postponed.

"It is with a heavy heart that we share this update with our valued stakeholders and audiences. The release of Jana Nayagan, eagerly awaited on January 9, has been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances beyond our control. The new release date will be announced at the earliest," KVN Productions had said in a statement.