If reports are to be believed, Vijay's final film, "Jana Nayagan", won't be hitting theatres at least for three months. Those who hoped to see it before the Tamil Nadu Assembly Elections will have to be a bit more patient.
The information comes reportedly from York Cinemas, the Canadian distributor of "Jana Nayagan" (and the distributor of South Indian films in Canada). Apparently, the process of refunding the money of those who bought the tickets is already underway. Most recently, it was speculated that "Jana Nayagan" would hit theatres on February 20. However, that doesn't seem to be the case, as there has been no momentum yet in the certification process. It is expected to take longer.
The 'Jana Nayagan' situation so far
The Madras High Court has on Feb. 10 granted permission to KVN Productions, the makers of "Jana Nayagan" starring Vijay, to withdraw their case against the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), after Vijayan Subramaniam, the production house's legal counsel, submitted a letter to the court expressing their intention to pursue the review process with the CBFC rather than continue with the legal proceedings.
The case, which has been ongoing for a month, involved the CBFC initially informing KVN Productions that the film would be given a U/A certificate after the makers made certain alterations to certain scenes deemed offensive and hurtful to religious sentiments and the country's armed forces. However, the certificate wasn't granted despite the producers making the changes, and the CBFC had opted to send the film to a revising committee. The explanation given for this was that a member of the examining committee had raised a complaint about the objectionable content.
Earlier, on January 9, a single judge had passed a ruling in favour of the producers, directing CBFC to grant immediate certification and reprimanding them for deciding to send the film for review despite informing the former of the update on certification and also reportedly condemned the consideration of complaints from committee members who had already given their recommendations.
Following the single judge's order, the CBFC appealed. However, the division bench stayed the decision, criticising the producers for rushing the process and putting pressure on the judicial system, according to a report in Live Law. The court ultimately returned the case for fresh consideration by the single judge, ordering the producers to amend their prayer against the CBFC’s review decision.