'Jana Nayagan' certification: Madras High Court reserves order on Vijay-starrer plea

Chennai: The Madras High Court on Wednesday reserved its order on a petition seeking a direction to the CBFC to give a censor certificate under 'UA 16+' category to the top star, TVK chief 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.

Justice P T Asha reserved order on a petition filed by KVN Productions LLP, which has produced the film.

When the case came up for hearing, as directed by the court on Tuesday, Additional Solicitor General A R L Sunderesan 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.

Meanwhile, industry sources indicated that the film's release may be delayed.

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.

Moreover, the Central government has the power to review decision and there was no transparency in the system.

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.

On January 6, when the plea came up for hearing, Justice Asha orally asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) 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 'Jananayagan' 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.