Ever since the posters and teaser of Umapathy Ramaiah's upcoming film TN 2026 were unveiled, the political satire caused quite a stir on social media, with several users pointing out the eerie similarities between actor Natty's looks in the poster to Vijay's victory call for his party and his delayed film Jana Nayagan. Soon the film was called out and criticised, with many accusing the filmmaker of "defaming" Vijay.

The outrage grew with many Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) members registering their displeasure, calling for a ban on the film. TVK leader Aadhav Arjuna too echoed similar sentiments saying, "When Jana Nayagan can't release, how can a politically-charged film like this be released ahead of the election? Do you now understand this is an action by both DMK and BJP? People will not care about this film. They earlier released Parasakthi, which didn't run for a day. This will also face a similar fate."

Responding to these claims, Umapathy Ramaiah said, "Natty has many looks in the film. I have been seeing all the memes that have come out of one of the posters we have released. If you watch the thumbnail, you will understand that he has many get-ups in the story. Anna (Aadhav Arjuna) said the film was against them. Truthfully speaking, TN 2026 isn't against anyone. This is a political movie."

Noting that the film was intended and should be watched purely as "cinema", Umapathy reaffirmed, "The person whom everyone is saying that we are defaming (Vijay) is a lion. I have grown up watching his films and was inspired to dance like him. Nobody can defame a lion. They will remain a lion no matter what."

In another meet, Umapathy clarified that they did the look test for Natty a long time ago. "We wanted to show someone who is in the age of 55-60. We wanted to showcase the salt-and-pepper look of the actor who turns into a politician. If you take a look at many heroes, they would safeguard their natural hair until their 50s and then leave their gray hair to grow out. This was not the attire we wanted to go for. In another state, a leader would be wearing this. You must have seen that. I am once again reiterating that nobody can defame him."

Echoing similar thoughts, Natty added, "Truly he is a lion. I have watched him closely. We don't have any thought or intention to defame him. We only wanted audiences to watch the film and laugh their hearts out from the first frame to the last. Sir's look is just a portion of the film. My best wishes to the TVK brothers. I hope this reaches Adhav Arjuna sir."

TN 2026 is produced by Kannan Ravi under his Kannan Ravi Groups banner, with Deepak Ravi serving as a co-producer. The film, which marks Umapathy Ramaiah's sophomore directorial venture, also stars Thambi Ramaiah, Ilavarasu, MS Bhaskar, Shrrita Rao, Chandini Tamilarasan, Viji Chandrasekar, Vadivukkarasi, Redin Kingsley, John Vijay, Aadukalam Naren, VJ Andrews, Sathyan, and Jawa Sunderasan, among others. The film is set for release on April 10.