'Jana Nayagan' censorship: What changes did CBFC demand ahead of upcoming release?

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has cleared "Jana Nayagan", the upcoming Tamil film starring Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, C. Joseph Vijay, with an 'A' certificate, after asking the makers to make several changes. According to the certification order, the board reportedly directed the team to mute or modify references to "TVK" and "New India" and remove a scene showing the Indian national flag falling on the ground.

In total, the CBFC asked for 12 changes, including muted dialogues, altered visuals, and deleted scenes, as per a PTI report. The board also instructed the makers to change a book cover featuring B. R. Ambedkar and replace a dialogue that mentioned both Ambedkar and TVK. Religious terms such as "Bhagavatham" and "Ranganathar" were muted, two abusive words were removed, and scenes showing a child being burnt and a district collector's office insignia being treated disrespectfully were also changed or possibly deleted. A dialogue, "I will make India fall at my feet," was muted, as per the report.

The film's certification process took nearly seven months. "Jana Nayagan" was submitted to the CBFC on December 19 last year ahead of its planned Pongal release in January. Although the examining committee reportedly suggested a U/A certificate after recommending some edits, the process was delayed after further objections were raised.

The producers approached the Madras High Court, claiming there had been an unexplained delay in certification. The case later reached the Supreme Court before the producers agreed to have the film reviewed by a revising committee.

The controversy grew in April when a high-definition copy of the uncertified film leaked online. During court proceedings, it was revealed that the pirated version had been viewed around 1.2 crore times before being blocked. Tamil Nadu Police later arrested several people, including a freelance film editor, in connection with the leak.

Produced by KVN Productions and directed by H. Vinoth, "Jana Nayagan" has a certified running time of 183 minutes and 11 seconds. The film also stars Pooja Hegde, Bobby Deol, Mamitha Baiju, Gautham Vasudev Menon, and Prakash Raj. Industry sources say the film could release on July 24 in around 1,000 theatres across Tamil Nadu.