Vijay's Jana Nayagan's release delayed for two weeks as Madras HC stays certification after CBFC's appeal

Vijay's upcoming film, Jana Nayagan, faces delay as the Madras High Court stays the film's certification after CBFC's appeal, to hear the matter on January 21.

Vijay’s fans have been left disappointed as his much-anticipated film Jana Nayagan has been delayed following a major controversy surrounding its censor certification. The Madras High Court on Friday stayed the certification of the Vijay-starrer after an appeal filed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and said it would hear the matter in detail on January 21.

Vijay's Jana Nayagan is touted to be his last film.

All about the Madras High Court's order

Earlier on Friday morning, the Madras High Court had directed the CBFC to grant Vijay’s film a U/A 16+ certificate. Following this, the CBFC urgently filed an appeal before the High Court against the single judge’s order. Subsequently, a Division Bench of the Madras High Court temporarily stayed the single judge’s order passed earlier in the day.

A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan, in its dictated order, said, “Respondent Union of India was not given sufficient time… one main grievance of the Union of India was that they were not given time to reply. Another grievance is that the letter dated January 6 was not challenged, but the court (single judge) quashed it. Respondents argue that there was no urgency… All said and done, there was no certificate granted to the respondents.”

As reported by Live Law, during the hearing, when the Chief Justice questioned the CBFC over the urgent motion for appeal, the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) submitted that the proceedings before the single judge were hasty and that the CBFC did not get an opportunity to defend its case. The ASG also said that the producers of Jana Nayagan had applied for certification only on December 18 and that the film was referred to the review committee.

Appearing for the producers, KVN Productions, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi submitted that the complaint against the film was filed by a member of the CBFC committee. Questioning the haste, the Chief Justice asked, “What was the urgency that the respondent (Board) was asked to respond to the plea and the matter was decided within 2 days?”

When Rohatgi said that the film was slated for a January 9 release, the court remarked that the producers could have waited for certification. Addressing Rohatgi, the court said, “You’re creating an urgency and putting pressure on court. False state of urgency is being created saying that ‘we have to release the movie on such date’… 6th January order is not under challenge and it has been challenged. How can you go ahead with the release of the movie without even a certificate on hand? You can’t fix a date (for release) and put pressure on the system.”

The court has now placed a temporary stay on the certification, and the appeal will be heard next on January 21. This means Vijay's film has been delayed for at least two weeks now.

About Jana Nayagan

Directed by H Vinoth, the film stars Vijay alongside Mamitha Baiju, Pooja Hegde and Bobby Deol. It was scheduled to hit theatres on January 9, coinciding with the Pongal festival. The film is touted to be Vijay’s last before he enters politics and contests the Tamil Nadu elections under the TVK banner. Following the opening of advance bookings in Karnataka, Kerala and international markets, ticket prices reportedly went up to ₹2,000, even as the film awaited censor clearance.

The film was stalled after a complaint was filed with the censor board alleging that certain scenes hurt religious sentiments. Set to release on Friday, the film has now been postponed, with a new release date yet to be announced.