Vijay’s farewell film Jana Nayagan.
Credit: X/SreeHQ
Chennai: With the censor certificate getting delayed, Jana Nayagan, dubbed as the cinema swansong of popular Tamil actor Vijay as he takes the political plunge, will not hit theatres on January 9 as planned.
Bengaluru based KVN Productions, which bankrolled the mega budget movie, announced late Wednesday night that the released has been postponed due to “unavoidable circumstances beyond our control,”
“We deeply understand the anticipation, excitement, and emotions surrounding this film, and this decision has not been an easy one for us. The new release date will be announced at the earliest,” the production house said in a statement.
With this announcement, Jana Nayagan is unlikely to release in overseas markets as well. The film, much anticipated due to Vijay’s political entry and was timed well to give an elevation to the actor before his debut assembly elections, had broken several records in pre-release reservation with tickets being sold as high as Rs 1,000 in many centres in India.
The announcement was an anti-climax of sorts as the production house had expected a grand reception for the movie given it was supposedly the last film of Vijay.
Over 650 screens in Tamil Nadu were ready to screen the movie but they are likely to start refunding the tickets to buyers.
The release has been postponed due to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not giving the censor certificate for the movie – the producers knocked at the doors of the Madras High Court seeking its intervention in the matter.
The production house said it applied for a CBFC certificate on December 18 and made 27 cuts and modifications recommended by the examining committee. But the certificate was withheld due to a complaint by a single member of the examining committee which reviewed the movie.
After hearing both sides, the Madras High Court has reserved the orders and with the case not being listed for judgement on Thursday, the production house decided to postpone the release of the movie, which has been produced at a budget of Rs 500 crore.
The movie had its gala audio launch in the presence of 80,000 Vijay fans from across the world on December 27 in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. The film was pitted against Sivakarthikeyan’s Parasakthi, which is planned to be released on January 10 but yet to get the censor certificate.
The release of Jana Nayagan and Parasakthi within a day from each other suggested a proxy political war between Vijay and the ruling DMK.
Parasakthi is intended to remind Tamil audiences and voters of the anti-Hindi agitation and the events that led to the rise of Dravidian politics – well timed keeping in mind the assembly elections. Parasakthi is also the title of the 1952 cult classic that heralded the arrival of Sivaji Ganesan as an actor and M Karunanidhi as a powerful scriptwriter.