Vijay’s Jana Nayagan leaked online before release; Director H. Vinoth calls it ‘truly painful’

In an even more shocking twist, Vijay's Jana Nayagan's several portions of the movie have been leaked online. The film, set to release in January and billed as Telugu superstar Vijay's last film before he focuses on his political career, has still not received a UA certificate. The new challenge comes just ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly election, in which the actor is contesting.

To make matters worse, over five minutes of the movie have been leaked online and have been widely circulated since.

Clips from Jana Nayagan leaked online

On Friday (April 9), several social media posts featuring high-quality print footage from the movie that's still awaiting release started circulating online. After much confusion, it was finally revealed that the clips are from his upcoming movie.

The leaked content is said to be around five minutes long and reportedly includes Vijay’s introduction scene along with snippets from the song titled “Thalapathy Katcheri.”

Other viral clips include portions of the film’s title credits, Vijay’s scenes in jail, and a fight sequence, all of which have been widely shared across social media platforms.

As of now, neither Vijay nor his team has reacted to the leak, which many are calling a major setback. However, the film’s director, H. Vinoth, has requested fans not to share the clips.

Taking to Instagram, Vinoth shared,''Every scene carries someone’s dream. The leak before release is truly painful. Please support by not sharing it.” Several netizens have claimed that the entire movie has been leaked.

Screengrab of H. Vinoth's IG story Photograph: (IG)

So far, it is unclear what action the team plans to take. However, according to several fan claims, a complaint has been filed against those who shared the clips online. No official statement on this has bee released.

Netizens and the industry speak out against the leak

As the clips went viral, many netizens came out in support of the actor and condemned the leak. One user wrote,''A 400-500Crs film just got leaked overnight !!Toughest time for the Producer, distributor and the whole team. They shouldhave been more cautious, as the film has gone into already serious troubles Now the only & better way is to release JanaNayagan ASAP in the Theatres, if they got censor certificate.''

Another user demanded strict action against those responsible for the leak.

Not just fans, several people from the film industry also spoke out in support of Vijay and condemned the incident.

Producer G Dhananjheyan condemned the action saying that the KVN production should move to the court immediately. “This is outrageous and highly condemnable whoever is responsible for this. KVN Productions must move the court immediately and get all such links are removed and taken down before it’s too late and the film is watched by millions. Film business is becoming dangerous and highly unpredictable with these kind of dangers all around a film.”

Filmmaker Arvindh Sriniwasan also stated that the matter should be thoroughly investigated and the source of the breach must be identified.

Jana Nayagan's troubled journey

Actor-turned politician Vijay will contest two seats in the upcoming Tamil Nadu Assembly polls for his party, Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK). Before this, Jana Nayagan was his last movie that was set to release on Jan 9. However, as it failed to get clarification from the CBFC, the release of the movie was further delayed. This led the producers to file a case against the government body in the Madras High Court. After CBFC again examined the movie, it was learned that the movie needs clarification from the Election Commission. As of now, no release date has been announced and the future of the movie is still in limbo.