Suspense Over Vijay’s Jana Nayagan Release As Madras High Court Reserves Order

The Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved its orders in the case concerning the certification delay of actor-turned-politician Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan, after hearing arguments from the Central Board

of Film Certification (CBFC) and the film’s producer, KVN Studios.

A bench of Justice P T Asha reserved the order on a petition filed by KVN Productions LLP which sought a direction to the CBFC to give a censor certificate under ‘UA 16+’ category to Vijay starrer film “Jana Nayagan.” With the court reserving its order, the release of the movie, which was originally scheduled to hit cinema halls on January 9, faces uncertainty.

During the hearing, the court questioned how the censor board could decide to send the film for a fresh review after the production house had already carried out the excisions recommended by the examining committee for the issuance of a U/A 16+ certificate, news agency PTI reported.

Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan appearing on behalf of the censor board produced a copy of the complaint given by one of the panel members, which examined the film. He said the Censor Board has the power to refer the decision of the committee to grant a certificate to the Review Committee, if it was found subsequently, some scenes have to be deleted.

One of the panel members pointed out at 14 scenes that have to be reviewed. Therefore, the decision to grant censor certificate was kept in abeyance and it was referred to Review Committee, he added.

It further said Jana Nayagan would be reviewed by a fresh committee comprising members who were not part of the original examining committee.

On the other hand, senior counsel Satish Parasaran, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the majority of the members took a decision to grant censor certificate. However, based on one complaint from a member, it cannot be reviewed.

The producer has invested Rs 500 crore and it has already announced the release date as January 9 ahead of the start of Pongal festival holidays. Therefore, this court can interfere in this matter, he added.

The board informed the court that the production company had been notified of this decision through an email dated January 5. When questioned by the court on why the producer had not been informed earlier, the CBFC maintained that there was “no ulterior motive” behind referring the film to a revising committee.

On January 6, when the plea came up for hearing, Justice Asha orally asked the censor board to produce on Wednesday, a copy of the “complaint” that claimed the film “hurts religious sentiments.” The filmmakers had submitted that the movie had been referred for “review” after an initial recommendation for U/A certification.

Even though a release date has been fixed for the film, it can only proceed legally, the Censor Board had submitted in the court.

Directed by H Vinoth, the film ‘Jana Nayagan’ stars actors Vijay, Prakash Raj, Pooja Hegde, Mamitha Baiju, among others.

The film team, having completed all work, sent it for censorship on December 18.

Subsequently, on December 19, the censor board that viewed the film reportedly advised the removal of some scenes and muting of some dialogues.

Even after changes suggested by the censor board members were made, the censor certificate has still not been issued, the petitioner movie production house had submitted.

Meanwhile, the release date of Jana Nayagan has been postponed ‘due to unforeseen circumstances’ even as the Madras High Court has reserved order on the film. Malik Streams Corporation, the Malaysian distributor of the film, gave shared the update on X.

The note said that further updates from the production team are being awaited. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the initial release of Jana Nayagan, scheduled for 9 January 2026, has been postponed to a later date. We are currently awaiting further updates from the production team. Once the new release date is confirmed, official announcements will be shared through our authorised platforms,” it read.

(With inputs from agencies)