After a day-long wait, the producers of actor and Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam leader Vijay’s Jana Nayagan finally got the revising committee to watch the film.
Jana Nayagan has been in trouble as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had put the issuance of the censor certificate for the film on hold. Jana Nayagan was initially scheduled for release on 9 January, just before the Pongal festival.
Even while Vijay’s fans believed that the film would be released once all legal hurdles were cleared, it was referred to the CBFC revising committee for a second review after its producers, Bengaluru-based KVN Productions, withdrew the writ petition filed before the Madras High Court.
Following this, the producers went back to the CBFC and the film was referred to the revising committee. The committee was initially supposed to watch the film on 9 March. However, as one of the members fell ill, the committee did not watch the movie and the screening was postponed to 17 March. On 17 March, even while the producers were waiting, the committee members did not arrive until 6 pm. However, after continuous follow-up and a long wait, the producers managed to get the members of the CBFC to watch the film.
The CBFC office in Chennai currently does not have a board member, as S. Ve. Shekher’s tenure has ended and no one has replaced him yet. Consequently, Jeevitha Rajasekhar and Nagabharna flew down to Chennai late in the evening to review the film. However, after watching the movie, the members did not offer an opinion. Sources say they will be filing a report to the CBFC regarding their views on the film, the scenes that must be deleted or modified, and a recommendation on whether the film should be given an ‘A’ certificate.
The uncertainty over the censor certificate continues, and it remains to be seen if the CBFC will accept the recommendations of the revising committee and issue the certificate before the Tamil Nadu election, which is scheduled for 23 April.