Will 'Jana Nayagan' Release On January 9? India's Censor Board Seeks Review

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)

Doubts have risen over the release of actor Thalapathy Vijay's final film, Jana Nayagan, on January 9, with India's film certification board, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), informing the Madras High Court that the production requires a fresh review.

KVN Productions, which bankrolled the Tamil movie starring Vijay, Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Prakash Raj and Mamitha Baiju, approached the Madras High Court challenging the CBFC's decision, Bar and Bench reported.

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The producers contend that the impasse has come up even as they had submitted the movie for certification a month ago and cut certain dialogues. A final certificate, however, is yet to be issued.

The Hindu newspaper reported that Justice PT Asha of the Madras High Court has asked Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan, representing the CBFC, to submit all records, including a complaint received against the contents of the movie. The judge has sought the records to be placed before her on Wednesday as the movie is slated for release on Friday.

This came after senior counsel Satish Parasaran contended that the delay was causing irreparabale damage in terms of "financial loss, mental stress as well as reputational harm to KVN Productions LLP", The Hindu reported. He said, the production house had invested nearly Rs 5 billion (Dh203.5 million approximately) and planned to release the movie in 5,000 screens.

The impasse comes even amid robust bookings for the tentpole across India. According to the Indian box office tracker Sacnilk, Jana Nayagan has recorded Rs 94 million in advance bookings in India for the opening day. FDFS (first day-first show) bookings in the south Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka have been nearly sold out, NDTV reported citing the booking aggregator BookMyShow.

Bookings have begun in full earnest for the movie in the UAE, too. Vox Cinemas shows listings for shows as early as 4.30 am on Friday and 6.45 am on Saturday.

Jana Nayagan is Vijay's last movie as he contests elections to the Tamil Nadu Assembly through his political party, the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam. The movie was initially slated for a release in October 2025 before postponing it to the Pongal holiday, a keenly awaited period to release major films.

Jana Nayagan clashes with Parasakthi, a period thriller drama helmed by Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan and Sreeleela, in Tamil Nadu.

Reportedly, Vijay was paid a whopping Rs 2.75 billion as remuneration. Amazon Prime Video has bought Jana Nayagan's digital rights for Rs 1.21 billion (Dh 50 million approximately). Zee Tamil has secured the film's satellite rights for Rs 640 million.

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