Vijay's farewell film Jana Nayagan has been in the news over the last week, although for reasons that the actor wouldn't have preferred. The film, directed by H Vinoth, was slated to release on January 9, 2026 for the Pongal season but has been delayed indefinitely due to an ongoing censor certificate row.
While the Jana Nayagan producers KVN Productions were expecting to get the certificate by January 5, the delay and lack of clarity from the Censor Board forced them to take the legal route by approaching the Madras High Court. The case was initially supposed to get its verdict on January 7 but that got pushed to January 9, officially delaying the release for the first time.
On January 9, the High Court initially ruled in favour of the film's producers by directing the CBFC to issue the censor certificate. However, the CBFC then hit back by filing a writ appeal against the judgement, ensuring further delay to the film's release. The next date of hearing is on January 21, which means that the film is effectively out of the Pongal release.
KVN Productions are set to approach the Supreme Court on Monday (January 12) in a bid to fast track the case but it would be unrealistic at this point to expect a favourable outcome for Jana Nayagan. If the Supreme Court appeal doesn't work, January 21 is the obvious date of hearing but the Jana Nayagan producers have a problem if the delay continues.
As such, the hearing on January 21, which makes it difficult to release on January 23 for the Republic Day weekend. If Jana Nayagan gets delayed further, the makers will hope that the Election Commission doesn't announce the dates for the 2026 Tamil Nadu state elections in between. If that happens, Vijay and Jana Nayagan will have to wait till the elections are over, if they want to release the film.
Why? Once the election dates are announced, Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into play if Jana Nayagan date hasn't been fixed till then. With Vijay set to contest in the 2026 TN elections, the EC have the authority to halt or prevent screenings of Jana Nayagan, if they feel that the movie has the potential to influence the voters in TN. In short, more delays and legal troubles could be on the cards.
Hence, the Jana Nayagan producers will hope that they get relief by January 21 at the earliest, and hope that the election dates do not come before the release date is fixed.