Vijay's 'Jana Nayagan' film release in limbo; court battle to resume on Jan 20th

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). On Thursday, (15th Jan), the Supreme Court dismissed the film producer's plea seeking CBFC clearance for the film, and asked that this matter be argued before the Madras High Court. The Madras High Court is expected to take up this matter on January 20th.

This big-budget film, which is also said to be Vijay's final one, was originally planned for release on January 9th, so that it could hit the screens ahead of the Pongal festivities, which go on from Wednesday, (14th Jan) until the weekend.

About 'Jana Nayagan'

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.

What caused the delay in releasing the film? How did the matter reach the court?

The delay in the film's release is due to non issuance of the Certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification and related hurdles. The Government-issued CBFC certificate is a mandatory requirement for a film's release.

Barely four days ahead of the original release date(Jan 9th), 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 ₹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.

What happened in court?

On January 9th, based on arguments made that week, 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. The makers approached the Supreme Court, and had their plea dismissed. All eyes are now on the Madras High Court.