69 films, millions of fans, and hundreds of crores of box office revenue later, Vijay is marking his final acting venture with Jana Nayagan, directed by H Vinoth. FDFS celebrations have already begun outside of the state and fans have been whistling, hooting and screaming for their favourite actor-turned-Chief Minister throughout its run.
Although announced in 2024 and scheduled to hit theatres for the Pongal festival of January 2026, the actioner was locked in a six-month-long battle with the CBFC, unable to procure a censor certificate owing to several issues and legal hurdles. Later in April, Jana Nayagan faced a major setback when the movie was leaked in its entirety, sparking reactions of anger and disappointment across the film fraternity.
Despite these roadblocks, the film continued to cement its legacy and found greater popularity after Vijay took oath as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, marking a full circle for the actor who began his film career with Naalaiya Theerpu in 1992. The film was recently cleared censor formalities with an 'A' certificate with 12 cuts/modifications suggested by the board.
The film sports a huge cast, including Pooja Hegde and Bobby Deol in the lead roles, alongside Gautham Vasudev Menon, Prakash Raj, Narain, Priyamani, Mamitha Baiju and Monisha Blessy. Jana Nayagan is a partial remake of the 2023 hit Nandamuri Balakrishna film Bhagavanth Kesari.
Note: This tracker is constantly updated as new stories come in.
How much of Jana Nayagan has been taken from Bhagavanth Kesari? Read to find out:
As Vijay bids farewell with Jana Nayagan, here's look at his illustrious career spanning over three decades
In this exclusive interview, Jana Nayagan director H Vinoth opens up on helming CM Vijay's swansong, why streaming is the future, and his biggest fear
CE revisits Vijay's three-decade journey from a filmmaker's son to a superstar who chose a different stage
While celebrated as an actor and a star, CE takes a look at one of Vijay's lesser celebrated aspects, as a singer. From an energetic beginner, to an established actor, and a big star, Vijay's journey as a singer mirrors his career as an actor.
For the most part of his career, Vijay is known for playing protagonists who are idealised and heroic. However, the actor has also punctuated his career with some unconventional characters, some of which you may not usually associate with his larger-than-life star persona. One such experimentation came quite early in his career with 1998's Priyamudan, directed by Vincent Selva.
As CM Vijay's swansong Jana Nayagan gears up for release, CE revisits his popular films since the 2010s that made headlines for reasons beyond the box office.
With a release soon on cards, the CBFC has made several changes to the film including modifying visuals where Dr. Ambedkar is shown on the cover page of a book, removing dialogues were Vijay's party Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) was mentioned along with replacing a key dialogue where "Ambedkar sattam" (Ambedkar rules) to "TVK sattam".
The film is set for one of the biggest releases ever mounted for a Tamil film, with around 8,000 shows planned across India, including more than 3,500 in Tamil Nadu. According to industry tracking website Sacnilk, Jana Nayagan had collected nearly Rs 15 crore in advance bookings for its opening day by Wednesday morning.
As Jana Nayagan prepares for its worldwide release on July 23, fans in Bengaluru are paying up to Rs 1,000 for some first-day-first-show tickets at single-screen theatres.
Vijay's swansong Jana Nayagan is finally gearing up to open in theatres on July 23. The announcement was made after much anticipation on Wednesday. Given the scale and budget of the film, other Tamil releases scheduled for the day and the following week have been postponed, including Lokesh Kanagaraj's DC.
