Madras High Court directs CBFC to issue U/A 16+ certificate for Vijay's film Jana Nayagan

In a major win for makers of Vijay’s film Jana Nayagan, a Madras High Court ordered the CBFC to clear the film for release.

The release of Jana Nayagan, actor Vijay’s highly anticipated film, has been delayed following a mounting controversy surrounding its censor certification. Now, it has come to light that the Madras High Court has directed the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) to grant the film a U/A 16+ certificate.

Vijay's Jana Nayagan was slated to release on January 9.

Madras HC orders U/A 16+ certificate

On Friday, it was reported that the Madras High Court asked the CBFC to issue a U/A 16+ certificate for Vijay's film Jana Nayagan. In a major win for Vijay’s film, the high court ordered censor clearance, and asked the CBFC to clear the film for release

This comes after Madras High Court reserved its order on release of Vijay film in the last hearing on Wednesday. A hearing was held at the Madras High Court on Wednesday afternoon when an advocate representing KVN Productions and the Additional Solicitor General (ASG) representing the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) argued over Vijay’s final film, Jana Nayagan’s fate. Justice PT Asha reserved judgment after hearing both sides of the argument.

It was disclosed in court that the person who filed a complaint that derailed the censor certificate before its scheduled January 9th release was a member of the examining committee. The ASG also revealed that it was the CBFC Chairperson’s decision to halt the certification process for the Vijay film. Key takeaways from the court case.

ASG ARL Sundaresan, representing the CBFC, handed over the complaint they received about Jana Nayagan to the court and informed that a member of the examining committee had raised the complaint. His objections were not recorded during the viewing of the film. The ASG also argued that the CBFC Chairperson had the authority to order a review of the film even after it was screened to the examining committee, as was the case in this instance.

About the film

The film, directed by H Vinoth, features Vijay, Mamitha Baiju, Pooja Hegde and Bobby Deol. It was slated for release on January 9 for Pongal. The film was highly publicised as Vijay's final film before he contests in the Tamil Nadu elections this year with TVK. Tickets were sold for as high as ₹2000 after bookings opened in Karnataka, Kerala, and overseas, despite a delay in obtaining the censor certificate. During hearings held on January 6 and 7, the production house's counsel argued that they had ₹500 crore at stake in the film.