The long-awaited theatrical premiere of Thalapathy Vijay’s Jana Nayagan has got a major legal impediment, and the fans as well as the distributors are still undecided about the situation. On Friday, the Madras High Court put the censor certificate of the film on hold, thus stopping the global release that was originally fixed for January 9.
A single judge had earlier decided in favor of the producers, KVN Productions, but the quick appeal by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) got a temporary stay.
The court criticized the production company for creating a “false sense of urgency” that unfairly pressurized the justice system by announcing a release date for 5,000 screens even before getting the formal certificate.
Jana Nayagan Certification Conflict
The major contention of the disagreement is found in a procedural fracture within the CBFC’s reviewing committee. The fifth member, while four members supported a U/A 16+ rating, made a formal dissent stating that some content objections to the film were neglected.
This conflict among the members triggered an examination by the Revising Committee, which KVN Productions contested via an urgent writ petition. The last court ruling points out that the CBFC should be given sufficient time for at least two to three days to support its administrative actions.
The bench, by suspending the prior decision to issue the certificate, has given priority to regulatory inspection over the timelines of commercial operations.
Jana Nayagan Release Postponement
Now that the matter is postponed to January 21, Jana Nayagan has officially missed the profitable Pongal release window. The Madras High Court reprimanded the producers for their rash planning and asked why the system had to adjust to a deadline that was not legally cleared.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who was representing the film producers, talked about the big money involved, but the bench still insisted on following the administrative procedure.
As a result, the movie has no certification, and its release is postponed until the court meets after the holidays to decide whether the recent directives of the CBFC Chairperson are judicially valid.
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