Jana Nayagan release date: Madras HC reserves verdict on CBFC appeal

Hopes were high among the makers and fans of Vijay's Jana Nayagan as the court resumed hearing on January 20, but the division bench reserved its order, delaying an immediate verdict

The Madras High Court on Tuesday, January 20, reserved its verdict on an appeal filed by the Central Board of Film Certification challenging a single-judge order that directed the certification body to grant a UA certificate to actor-politician Vijay’s Tamil film Jana Nayagan.

 

Following a 3-hour hearing today, the bench of Chief Justice Manindra Mohan Shrivastava and Justice G Arul Murugan reserved orders. The single judge's order had already been stayed by the bench.

 

As the court resumed hearing in the Jana Nayagan case on Tuesday, expectations ran high among the film’s makers and fans of Vijay that the political action drama would finally clear its legal hurdles and move closer to release. However, the bench opted not to deliver an immediate verdict.

 

What is the Jana Nayagan CBFC case?

On December 22, 2025, the Regional CBFC Office in Chennai notified the film producer KVN Productions that the Examining Committee had suggested a "UA" certificate for the movie, subject to specific excisions.

 

These changes were completed on December 29, 2025, and the regional office announced that a UA certificate would be issued. However, the producer received a second message on January 5th stating that the film had been referred to the Revising Committee by the competent authority. This led the producer to file a writ case with the High Court the next day.

 

However, the lone judge decided in favour of the producer and noted that the CBFC chairman lacked jurisdiction to send the film for review. A division bench halted the ruling that same day.

Update on Jana Nayagan release date case

In its appeal, CBFC claimed that the single judge had not given them enough time to make their case. Additional Solicitor General ARL Sundaresan (ASG) argued that the Chennai regional office's December 22, 2025, judgment was merely "intermediary" and not final.

 

He said that the Board, which is based in Mumbai, receives the recommendations from the regional office and decides whether or not to certify the film. According to ASG, the decision for review was reached on December 29, 2025, and the Producer was notified via email on the 5th.

More about the Jana Nayagan release date

According to the ASG, the Revising Committee must decide on the matter within 20 days. Therefore, in this case, the body would have decided by January 26 at the latest (counting from January 06) if there had been no obstacles.

 

At this point, the Court noted that the single judge had determined that CBFC's authority to send the movie for review would be abdicated once a message regarding certification was provided to the producer.

 

ASG argued that courts cannot award relief that has not been requested by citing a Supreme Court case. Nonetheless, Parasaran told the court that papers from Mumbai itself had been submitted by the authorities. At this point, the ASG told the Court that the complaint that the Board had received came from Mumbai via an office.

Jana Nayagan cast and plot

The movie is directed by H. Vinoth under the production house of KVN Productions. The political action thriller Jana Nayagan, which was scheduled to release on January 9, 2026, is Thalapathy Vijay's last movie before he enters politics full-time. The ensemble cast of the movie includes some of the biggest names in South India:

 

·        Vijay: Plays Thalapathy Vetri Kondan (Vetri) IPS.

 

·        Pooja Hegde: Plays Kayal, the female lead.

 

·        Bobby Deol: Plays the primary antagonist, Phoenix.

 

·        Mamitha Baiju: Plays Vijayalakshmi "Viji".

 

·        Gautham Vasudev Menon: Plays Srikanth.

 

·        Supporting Cast: Includes Prakash Raj, Priyamani, Narain (as an AI humanoid scientist), Nassar, Sunil, Shruti Haasan, and Varalaxmi Sarathkumar.